Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 11 (2004) 259–268 Charity shop managers in the UK: becoming more professional? Elizabeth Parsons* Department of Marketing, University of Stirling, Scotland FK9 4LA, UK Abstract The charity retail sector in the UK has undergone a series of changes over the last decade which have typically been grouped under the heading professionalisation. Shop managers have been under increasing pressure from senior management to maximise profits for the parent charity. However charity retail harbours many contradictions and additionally, shop managers are aware of the need to ‘act charitably’ towards their volunteers and customers. This paper focuses on senior managers’ interpretations of professionalism and attempts to close the gap between charity retail and commercial (non-charity) retail and contrasts this with the day-to-day working experiences of shop managers. In doing so it highlights the symbolic and often contested nature of (charity) retail spaces. r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Charity shops; Charity retail; Professionalism; Management 1. Introduction In the early 1980s many charity shops were little more than ‘thrift shops’, managed by local groups of volunteers, selling wholly donated goods, and located in back and side streets (Horne, 2000). Twenty years later most shops are staffed by at least one paid manager, sell a percentage of new goods and are located on or near to prime shopping streets. In addition, the downmarket jumble sale image of the shops has been reversed through investment in refurbishment and a focus on merchandising and display. Senior managers admit that they now expect much more of shop managers. Shop income is central to these expectations and many charity shop managers are under significant pressure not only to meet sales targets, but also to draw up adequate business plans and generally ‘expand the business’. Charity retail presents a particularly interesting opportunity to explore the processes of professionalisa- tion in a charitable context. While the primary purpose of most charity retailers is profit generation, their charitable association can conflict with this objective. They occupy sometimes uneasily the border zone between commercialism and voluntarism. This is re- flected in the unique juxtaposition of the sale of goods (which now include new goods as well as donated items) by volunteer staff. Charities need to be seen to be acting charitably towards their volunteers and customers as well as applying sound business acumen to their operations. The nature of the traditional volunteer cohort in charity shops brings with it additional challenges. Charity shop volunteers are typically elderly women who volunteer for a range of reasons (such as the need for social contact and support) which easily conflict with the central profit making objective of the shops. This paper explores the process of professionalisation occurring within charity retail sector as interpreted by head office staff and contrasts this with the actual experiences of shop managers in dealing with customers and managing volunteers. The paper first situates charity retail in the wider retail context and examines reasons for the expansion (and consequent increased professionalism) of the sector. The paper then presents research on retail managers which focuses on the ways in which senior staff attempt to govern the behaviours and identities of shop managers, this section also addresses specific studies on managers in charity retailing. The findings are divided into two sections, the first explores head office interpretations of what the professionalisation of the sector means to them and how this is translated into management policies. The second findings section explores shop managers’ experiences of ARTICLE IN PRESS *Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-1786-467-390; fax: +44-1786- 464-745. E-mail address: elizabeth.parsons@stir.ac.uk (E. Parsons). 0969-6989/$-see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0969-6989(03)00052-3