The founder of a North East bag boutique has told how she swapped pharmaceuticals for fashion, turning a sideline enterprise into a million pound global business.
The Handbag Clinic was first launched eight years ago by Charlotte and Ben Staerck as a spin-off from the leather repair business run by Ben and his father in Burnopfield, County Durham.
Since then, the firm has expanded into the resale of pre-loved designer bags, selling like-new Hermes, Dior and Chanel bags and it now operates through a chain of four stores - on Kings Road in London, Leeds and Newcastle 鈥 as well as franchise stores in Europe and the Middle East, restoring around 700 bags each month.
Loved by celebrities including Poppy Delevingne, Storm Keating, Heidi Range and Frankie Bridge, the firm鈥檚 popularity was made evident when it recently launched a restoration clinic in Fenwick, hitting its monthly sales targets in just three days.
Record growth, achieved despite the pandemic, led to the firm reaching 拢1m turnover last year.
And that growth is set to continue as more and more fashionistas embrace the importance of sustainability, triggering new job creation, through a recruitment drive for its artisanal team in Newcastle in both the stitch and colour departments.
Having loved luxury handbags ever since she was a teenager, Charlotte was destined to lead the charge for Handbag Clinic, the result of a well-researched hobby.
The company could even have come around sooner than it did - had it not been for a mislaid telephone number.
She said: 鈥淚鈥檝e been obsessed with handbags forever. I鈥檓 not sure why, I grew up in a tiny village outside of Newcastle, and my mum wasn鈥檛 interested at all.
鈥淚 remember, when I got a Saturday job, I鈥檇 stare at them through the windows 鈥 and, as soon I could, I bought my first brand-named bag; a cream Luella tote at 18 years old, which I thought was the best thing ever.
鈥淗owever, it soon got covered in dye transfer, from my jeans. And, a colleague told me there was a local company, The Furniture Clinic, that did repairs. She gave me their number, but I lost the piece of paper.
鈥淚f I had gone, it turns out I鈥檇 have met my future husband, Ben, two years earlier than I did 鈥 at a bar in Newcastle. Ben had built up a business with his father cleaning and restoring furniture and leather household items since 2004 and, by the time I met him, it had grown from a small online family operation to a thriving global business with a team of 75 people and a network of distributors around the world, still operated from its North East headquarters.鈥
Charlotte had been on a fast-track career path when the seeds for the idea of The Handbag Clinic were being planted. Having risen through local government ranks she had been appointed as a senior buyer of pharmaceutical and medical equipment for the NHS - but a different career path beckoned.
She said: 鈥淚 was fiercely independent and my career was going from strength to strength but my passion was always luxury handbags 鈥 I would spend ages browsing the preowned market and buying and selling at the right time so I could covet the latest It bag 鈥 something that鈥檚 now been coined as circular fashion.
鈥淚鈥檇 work with Ben to protect the bags and restore them to ensure they held or even increased their value when selling them on. It was incredible what he and his team could do 鈥 from removing stubborn stains and scratches to improving colour loss and repairing broken zips, worn edges, split piping and reinforcing shape and stretched straps. Nothing seemed to be unsalvageable. I couldn鈥檛 believe how profitable it was. For example, I made 拢300 on a damaged velvet Gucci cross-body bag.鈥
Leather cleaning and repair business Furniture Clinic had started life almost 20 years ago when Keith Staerck travelled around the 海角视频, displaying his products and services at home exhibitions. His son Ben, then a 17-year-old sixth former, designed and built a company website and expanded its digital presence, resulting in huge sales growth.
As well as furniture, customers would send all kinds of leather goods in to the Burnopfield workshop for repair - including huge numbers of handbags.
Charlotte continued: 鈥淏en and I observed the increasing number of handbags that were being sent to Furniture Clinic for restoration and I encouraged Ben to officially incorporate Handbag Clinic as its own independent luxury handbag offshoot in 2013 鈥 all still operated through our ecommerce platform at the time.
鈥淲e opened the doors to our first store on King鈥檚 Road in 2015. Restoration was still very much the heart of the business but we had so much retail space and Ben wanted to use this for something more. This was when I had my lightbulb moment. We were having dinner one night, and I suggested integrating buying and selling preowned luxury handbags as a resale operation in our stores.
鈥淣o one else was doing it on a large scale, at the time. Nor were they combining restoration with resale which enables customers to fetch the highest possible price for their bags. There was a clear gap in the market. So I decided to leave my career and board Handbag Clinic as a buyer to develop the preowned resale operation.
鈥淎t this point we opened the Newcastle store which was designed to also showcase our amazing range of preowned designer handbags as well as facilitate restoration consultations.
鈥淏en had seen my addiction, knew I was onto something, and that I鈥檇 be the person to do it. So, I started heavily researching for about a year, until I knew everything there was to possibly know about handbags and the preowned market.
鈥淏en split his time between Furniture Clinic and raising investment capital for Handbag Clinic whilst supporting on strategy.
鈥淚 took charge of the day-to-day operations, developing a new system from scratch, working out which brands were popular, sourcing and photographing products. It really spiralled from there.
鈥淲ithin that first year, we launched the integrated offering of 鈥楤uy, Sell, Restore鈥 and, in addition to our Chelsea and Newcastle store, we also opened another store in Leeds, followed by rollout into Europe, in Monaco, and the Middle East, in Qatar. We quickly experienced rapid growth, growing as much as 186% in six months.鈥
Prices vary on each bag but start at 拢15 and go up to 拢650 and, all told, the firm has handled over 拢50m of bags. Turnover was 拢1m last year but is set to be much higher this year.
Charlotte, who also consults as a valuation and authentication expert to auction houses Christie鈥檚, Sotheby鈥檚 and the V&A museum, said that despite the pandemic temporarily closing stores, it saw an increase of 500% year on year. Growth currently sits at 306% year on year, which she believes is the result of a shift in values.
She said: 鈥淚 think the pandemic has really heightened the sustainability trend and made a lot of people reconsider their values, with many questioning how they can enjoy fashion in a more responsible way.
鈥淧eople have become much more conscious of the life and quality of their handbags or shoes and the impact waste is having on the planet.
鈥淏uying a preowned item and using it for another nine months can actually reduce its water and carbon footprint by 20 to 30%.
"Whilst high streets are collapsing and sales of non-essential items have plummeted during the pandemic, resale and auction sites selling luxury and vintage handbags, particularly Hermes and Chanel and Louis Vuitton, are thriving because they are considered a safer investment than stocks and shares.
鈥淏ecause of their often-appreciating value, luxury handbags are one of the most sought-after items to buy and sell on the preowned market. They are seen as collector鈥檚 items and, in the face of economic uncertainty, a sound investment that can be passed down through generations.鈥
She added: 鈥淚 always say, one woman鈥檚 trash is another woman鈥檚 treasure. You wouldn鈥檛 believe what people have in their wardrobes that they thought was worthless.
鈥淪o many people throw away bags! I don鈥檛 dare tell them how much they could have saved鈥︹
