About us

The Network and its six members

The Salvation Army is a pioneer in charity shops. In the 19th century, The Salvation Army was one of the first ever charities to run second hand shops to provide the poor with affordable products. 150 years later, reuse and recycling is not only a form of aid, but also an important source of income for funding the work that The Salvation Army does for underprivileged and vulnerable people.

Total number of charity shops (2022/2023): 331

Employment (2022/2023): over 1700 employees, 5000 volunteers and social enterprise placements

Total number of customers in charity shops (2022/2023): 9.1 million

Used clothing collected and sold for reuse and recycling (2022/2023): over 110,000 tonnes

ENoR unites the reuse and recycling departments of The Salvation Army in Europe. Participating departments/organisations are SATCOL (UK), ReShare (NL), Fretex Norway (NOR), Fretex International, Brocki.ch (CH), and Frelsens Haer (DEN). The network is aiming at learning, networking and synergies. This is facilitated by an annual conference, working groups and inspiration visits. Important topics covered are innovation on second hand retail shops, a Code of Conduct for customers buying used goods and the recycling of unwearable textiles. We also exchange knowledge and innovation with our colleagues in North America and Australia.

SATCoL

Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL) is the trading arm of The Salvation Army in the UK, raising funds to support the charity through a network of over 240 charity shops and donation centres, and over 8,000 clothing collection banks. In the last 10 years, SATCoL has donated over £80 million to The Salvation Army in the UK. It also provides a range of publishing and music services, supplying the parent church and charity in its mission.

SATCoL is a founding signatory of the UK’s Textiles 2030 sector voluntary agreement. The agreement between retailers, manufacturers and reuse organisations is reducing the impact of the sector on climate change and water use. SATCoL works with over 400 partners in the UK providing textiles collection and reuse services. It also operates several innovative textile sorting and recycling processes to reduce the amount of textiles wasted.

For more information https://salvationarmytrading.org.uk/

ReShare

ReShare is the clothing collection division of The Salvation Army in the Netherlands. The organisation collects around 20 million kgs of used textiles each year. In processing the donated products, ReShare offers employment to over 30 people who have difficulty entering the regular job market. Additionally, 85 employees and 300 volunteers are working in ReShare’s activities.

 In 2014 ReShare started a retail chain in second-hand clothing. In 2023 there are 14 RESHARE STORES with over 1million visitors a year. In the coming years, ReShare is planning to expand the number of RESHARE STORES. ReShare participated in the innovative Fibersort project on textiles sorting for recycling and in the European Clothing Action Plan (ECAP).

For more information https://www.reshare.nl/

Frelsens Hær

FH Genbrug - DK is the clothing collecting branch of The Salvation Army in Denmark. From the first Door to Door collection in 1967, FH Genbrug has grown into an organisation collecting 3200 tonnes of clothes yearly from 1100 clothing banks. Every year 200 tonnes is reprocessed through FH Genbrug’s sorting facilities, where the main focus is on collecting quality clothing for FH Genbrug stores. The rest is exported mostly via Fretex International. FH Genbrug has 16 stores of which selected ones are undergoing a total rebranding and renovation.  FH Genbrug - DK are rebranding their name to “TAK - genbrug med hjertet”. Employment is offered to 40 people and 20 volunteers.

Overall FH Genbrug wish to make it easier for people to consume less, by selling quality second hand items and by offering repair and redesign of their own preloved clothes. It sells over 400,000 items each year in its retail division.

For more information https://www.frelsenshaer.dk/

Brocki.ch

The Salvation Army brocki.ch operates 20 secondhand stores throughout Switzerland, employs around 220 people and offers 30 social jobs to integrate people into the work process. By accepting goods, clearing out and reselling second-hand articles, the Salvation Army brocki.ch makes an important contribution to sustainable consumption, ensuring that goods are reused and the lifecycle of products is prolonged. brocki.ch is the leader of the Swiss retail second hand market. Its assortment is varied, seasonal and offers a large selection with around 50,000 different items per store. From individual fashion, kitchen utensils, electronic devices to decorative items, furniture or books, brocki.ch offers almost everything. We stand for contemporary shopping: individual, sustainable and affordable!

For more information https://www.brocki.ch/de/

Fretex

Fretex is a social enterprise established in Oslo, Norway in 1905 by The Salvation Army, who has complete ownership of Fretex to this day. Fretex is a household name in Norway well known for its second hand shops across the country. Fretex is located in most Norwegian counties working closely with government agencies, private sectors, donors and customers.

Fretex is an important part of The Salvation Army’s social work in Norway. Its vision is to give people reason to believe in the future and has core values of Transparency, Love, Commitment, Profitability. It gives people work opportunities and improves the environment through re-use, operating the largest vocational rehabilitation company and largest second hand chain store in Norway. 

Fretex is the largest collector of used clothes and textiles in Norway, with over 3500 donation boxes especially designed for this purpose. Fretex also has 2 sorting facilities for receiving and handling clothes and textiles in Norway. Each year Fretex collects over 13,500 tons of clothes and textiles. Fretex also collects other used goods for re-sale. There are a total of 39 second hand stores and 1 online store operated by Fretex in Norway.

The textiles we can’t make use of in our business are exported and re-used in other countries, or re-made into clothes or products. Fretex International oversees the export to other customers, mainly in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

For more information https://www.fretex.no/

Fretex International

Fretex International (FI) is a separate trading company owned by Fretex (Norway) and Frälsningsarmeen (Sweden). The company is trading used clothes and other second hand products which their suppliers do not need for their own shops or humanitarian work. Fretex International is currently working with exports from Fretex and Myrorna in Norway and Sweden, and with other similar organizations in Sweden and Norway. The company exported 21 thousand tons of used textiles and other products in 2022. All customers and customers of customers are visited and audited every year, and need to comply with Fretex International's Code of Conduct and report on use of goods in the annual transparency report.