Published: Thursday, 10th December, 2009 6:00am

Traders 'stifled' by charity shops

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THE chair of Haddington Business Association claims the town is being "smothered" by charity shops after a new store opened last week.

John Main, who runs J.S. Main and Sons on Haddington High Street, says there is little need for the Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland shop which began trading on Friday.

He would rather see the space filled with small, local businesses, but admits there is next to nothing anyone can do about it.

Charity shops receive rebates on business rates and sometimes cheaper rents from altruistic landlords.

There are now six charity shops in Haddington, including Cancer Research UK and Oxfam on High Street.

"I'm beginning to feel the place is stifled with charity shops," said Mr Main.

"I don't think we do need another one; Haddington has more than its share of them at the moment and I don't feel they actually do anything to help the town.

"You don't know if they're working on the same basis as other businesses - I know some of the other charity shops sell quite a percentage of new stuff and I don't think that's quite right."

The Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland shop, at 18 Court Street, premises formerly occupied by Tyneside Tartans, sells a range of second-hand books, DVDs, CDs, clothes, shoes and brick-a-brac.

But the charity has stressed that it is not selling new merchandise.

Penelope Blackwell, director of fundraising for the charity, said: "Criticism is sometimes levelled at charity shops in relation to their selling of new goods at lower prices due to preferential rate rebates.

"While we sympathise with the feelings of local traders, our Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland charity shop does not sell new goods other than our own Christmas cards, so we are not competing directly with local businesses. We receive no central government funding and therefore must fundraise - our shops obviously play a vital role in this area."

East Lothian Council backed the county's charity shops.

An economic development spokesman for the local authority said: "We encourage the use of our town centres by encouraging people to shop locally, on which we are running a campaign at the moment, and charity shops contribute to that as much as any other outlet.

"They also do good work in contributing to deserving causes. We've got a healthy mix of retail outlets in Haddington at the moment."

Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland has 20 shops nationwide and runs services throughout the Lothians for people affected by stroke illness.