Four van loads of donations sent to Northampton charity shops as shopping centre cleared out to make way for STACK
Four van loads of fixtures and fittings have been donated to Northampton charity shops, as a shopping centre is cleared out to make way for the STACK development.
Market Walk Shopping Centre has recently been cleared out ahead of STACK entering the premises to begin preparations. The clear out included getting rid of abandoned stock and fixtures and fittings left behind in empty retail units, such as Next, Greenwoods and Evans.
Instead of being committed to landfill, the items have been donated to Age UK and Cancer Research charity shops, which will put them to good use. Items included shelving, soft furnishings, electrical equipment and seasonal clothing.
Yvette Prior, retail development manager for the Age UK Northamptonshire, which has nine retail units in the area, said: “The items have been an amazing donation which have really helped us out.
“Everything we have received has been incredibly useful and has raised thousands for us.
“Some of the fixtures and fittings have gone into our shops and we’ve been able to donate items to our day centre.
“There was a lot of seasonal things like Christmas jumpers which we’ve been able to sell at the proper time of year and all of this has made a massive difference. We are so grateful.”
More than four van loads of items have been donated to the charities and there are still a further 130 packed boxes and bags to give away.
Mark Austin, centre manager at Market Walk, said: “Multiple tenants have abandoned both shop fittings and stock here which needed to be cleared out as part of the preparation for the start of the major strip out works.
“I have always supported local charities, some of which had retail units in the centre, so I was sure that lots of these items could be of use to them.
“I’m so pleased that charities are really benefiting from this stock and fittings from the shops in readiness for the centre to be transformed into STACK Northampton, which will really breathe new life into Northampton town centre.”
STACK, which will bring a leisure facility including restaurants, bars, street food vendors and entertainment spaces to the town, is currently working through the pre-commencement planning conditions, with the aim of the initial strip out phase of works beginning in the spring.