Primark launches its first ‘Swap Shop’ in-store concept

Value fashion retailer Primark is teaming up with circular clothing company Verte to launch its first swap shops in-store.

Primark will be trialling the new pre-loved clothing concept to celebrate London Fashion Week, offering customers the chance to exchange pre-loved and vintage clothing in its ‘Swap Shop’ pop-ups launching in select London, Manchester and Birmingham stores.

The first ‘Swap Shop’ event will kick off on September 13 at Primark in Westfield Stratford, London, as a part of London Fashion Week’s City-Wide celebrations. The exchange will be open on the ground floor for three days until September 15.

This will be followed up with a pop-up swap meet at Primark’s Manchester Market Street store from September 16 to 17 on the lower ground floor and at Birmingham High Street from October 16 to 17.

Commenting on the concept, Lynne Walker, director of Primark Cares, said in a statement: “We truly believe in helping people to love their clothes for longer and our latest partnership with Verte allows us to do just that.

“Welcoming Verte into our stores will help us to better engage with a community of like-minded fashion lovers who really care about where their clothes will go to next. We hope our pop-ups will encourage more people to participate in the growing circular fashion economy and with an opportunity to do so in their local Primark store. We've all got clothes in our wardrobe we keep meaning to wear but never get around to, so we’re excited to see Verte give new life to the clothing swapped by our customers and colleagues.”

Primark offering customers the chance to swap and shop

The ‘Swap Shop’ experience will allow customers to bring up to five items of adult clothing, including womenswear and menswear, as well as accessories such as bags, hats or scarves in good condition to be assessed and swapped for digital tokens on the Verte app. They don't need to be Primark items.

The digital tokens can then be used to purchase pre-loved items of clothing from Verte’s collection. A special gold token is awarded to luxury clothing items presented in almost-new condition, which can be traded exclusively for other gold items.

Any un-swapped clothes will be kept for the next swap, donated to local charities in the area or placed in Primark’s clothing donation boxes, available in all stores across the UK.

Jessica Brunt, founder of Verte, added: “We’re really excited to be partnering with Primark on this Swap Shop initiative because they are passionate about driving in-store experiences, not only in London but across the UK.

“Swapping is a great way to access pre-loved in an affordable and inclusive way and the more people who are exposed to the idea, the better it is for the planet and for the future of shopping.”

The initiative forms part of Primark’s commitment to make pre-loved fashion more accessible and encourage customers to love their clothing for longer. The retailer has been making pre-loved clothing more accessible to its customers in-store since 2022 through a partnership with the Vintage Wholesale Company to offer unique vintage clothes. The Wornwell vintage concept is currently in 10 Primark stores across the UK.

Primark also runs free ‘Love it for Longer’ repair workshop programme, which teaches shoppers basic repair and sewing techniques.