A beautiful seaside town with pristine beaches has the most charity shops across the UK, a new study has discovered.The town of Eastbourne, East Sussex, is famous for its Victorian buildings and stretching pier, and became a fashionable place for tourists to visit in the late 19th century, reports the Mirror.Tourists still flock to its shores to visit the town and enjoy its golden sands and agreeable climate - but new research has found that it is also a place to go for avid shoppers.The study, collated by ukphonebook.com, found that Eastbourne boasts some 35 charity shops, which is more than any other place in the UK.Eastbourne beat Hove to the title, another seaside town in the same county, as well as Preston, which is in Lancashire.Any business premise that is registered as a "charity shop" in official documents was included in the study, and the majority of these premises are near Eastbourne's train station and along the main road to the seafront.
The retail industry said charity shops are an important part of any high street.Robin Osterley, chief executive of the Charity Retail Association (CRA), said: "Charity shops play a vital role in attracting footfall to local high streets, such as Eastbourne, by maintaining a bricks-and-mortar presence in a rapidly changing retail landscape.
By offering an affordable and varied shopping experience, charity shops can appeal to a wide range of people, including younger shoppers. "We know that a lot of people now prioritise sustainability when buying clothes, and charity shops are best placed to champion sustainable fashion and reuse by offering cost-effective and accessible shopping options on people’s doorsteps."Places with the fewest people per charity shops include
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