Salvos Stores

What Salvos Stores does

Salvos Stores is the charitable retail arm of The Salvation Army in Australia, operating 400+ physical op shop locations nationwide and a proprietary e-commerce platform (salvosstores.com.au) launched in May 2020 and rebuilt in April 2025 on a Next.js front-end with Klaviyo marketing automation at its core. The core product is donated second-hand goods — clothing, homewares, furniture, books, collectables, toys, and electronics — supplemented by a factory-new mattress and bed-frame line at select stores (price band $169–$389), a gift-card programme, and ancillary services including Click & Collect, free home collection for donations, and partnerships with RCYCL and Rewear for textile recovery via 1,400+ Hubbed ParcelPoints. Distribution spans physical retail, the proprietary e-commerce store, eBay and Depop marketplaces, and Australia Post shipping (flat-rate $8 parcel / $10 express), with an in-store loyalty programme (Full Circle Rewards) tied to the omnichannel data architecture being built with Elephant Room.

The business model is a hybrid charity retailer: revenue is generated through one-time retail transactions of donated inventory (where the cost of goods is structurally near-zero) and a smaller contribution from factory-new bedding sales, with 100% of profits directed to The Salvation Army's community programmes. Pricing includes 20% student/concession discounts, weekly rotating half-price colour-tag sales, and points-based loyalty redemption (1 point per $1 = 5c credit). Customer segments are deliberately horizontal — budget-conscious consumers, students and concession card holders, brand-conscious vintage seekers, DIY/crafting community, circular-economy participants, and home renters — served through a community-led GTM leveraging The Salvation Army's 130+ year brand and the social-enterprise narrative as the core acquisition mechanism.

Underlying the retail front-end is a buildout of proprietary circular-economy infrastructure: Project Boomerang (a Queensland Government-supported textile recycling plant in Carole Park, 2024) and the Salvos Stores Textile Recovery Facility in QLD (Australia's first automated textile sorting and decommissioning facility, 2026) position the company as a vertically integrated textile-recovery operator. Strategic partnerships with The Iconic (RCYCL + Rewear bag distribution), Cricut (DIY July Edit campaign), UNiDAYS (student discounts), and Australia Post (shipping and donation drop-off) extend the company's reach without direct capital outlay. In 2025, the business reported 40M+ items kept in circulation, $39M raised for community programmes, and 1M+ Australians supported — providing both scale evidence and a credible non-financial performance baseline.

Name

Salvos Stores

Legal name

The Salvation Army (Victoria) Property Trust (ARBN 143 615 169 – incorporated in Victoria) trading as Salvos Stores (ABN 64 472 238 844)

Website

https://salvosstores.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1895

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Salvos Stores is the charitable retail arm of The Salvation Army in Australia, operating 400+ op shops and a national e-commerce platform selling donated second-hand goods, with revenue funding community programmes serving over one million Australians annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Second-Hand Retail

NAICS

Used Merchandise Retailers (459510), Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers (458110), All Other Miscellaneous Retailers (45999)

SIC

Retail-Miscellaneous Shopping Goods Stores (5940), Retail-Family Clothing Stores (5651)

akta.pro primary industry

Donation, Resale & Textile Recycling Coordination (HSAFABAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Donation Pickup & Reuse Hauling (HSAKALAI), Bulk Item & White Goods Collection (Bulky Waste) (BPALAAAD)

Keywords

• Second-hand retail
• Charity op shop
• Circular economy
• Textile recycling
• Donated goods resale

Headquarters

HQ city

Blackburn

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales of Donated Goods (Bricks-and-Mortar): The primary revenue stream: physical store sales of donated second-hand goods including clothing, homewares, books, furniture, collectables, and more across 400+ Australian locations. Revenue is generated through one-time retail transactions. 100% of profits support The Salvation Army's community programs.
2. Online E-Commerce Sales: Sales through the salvosstores.com.au online store, with items shipped nationally via Australia Post (flat-rate parcel post $8, express post $10). New items listed daily. Click & Collect from the listing store is available free of charge.
3. Marketplace Sales (eBay & Depop): Sales through third-party marketplaces eBay and Depop, extending reach to platform-native shoppers and enabling national and international sales of second-hand goods.
4. Factory-New Bedding & Furniture Sales: Sales of new factory mattresses (mattress-in-a-box) and bed frames available at select store locations. Products sourced and sold as new items including Emma Bed Base, Olivia Bed Frame, Sleepwell mattresses, Harper Bed Frame, Basics Mattress, Steelstrong Bed Base, and Studio Bed Frame at price points ranging from $169 to $389.
5. RCYCL & Rewear Bag Sales: Sale of RCYCL (unwearable textile recycling) and Rewear (donatable clothing) bags through rcycl.com.au and The Iconic. The RCYCL bag covers shipping and processing fees for recycling worn-out textiles into new materials; the Rewear bag facilitates donation of wearable items to Salvos Stores. Also available as a bundled offering.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Salvos Stores operates a hybrid charitable retail model selling donated second-hand goods — including clothing, homewares, books, furniture, collectables, electronics, toys, and sporting goods — through 400+ physical op shops across Australia, a national e-commerce store (salvosstores.com.au), and third-party marketplaces (eBay, Depop). The company also sells factory-new mattresses and bed frames at select locations and runs the RCYCL textile recycling and Rewear donation bag programs. 100% of profits fund The Salvation Army's community programs including emergency housing, meal services, and family support.

Product overview

Salvos Stores operates a dual-channel retail model combining a physical store network (400+ brick-and-mortar op shops across Australia) with an e-commerce platform launched in May 2020 and rebuilt in April 2025. The core offering is donated second-hand goods — clothing, homewares, books, collectables, furniture, entertainment, toys, and electronics — alongside a limited range of factory-new mattresses and bed frames sold in select stores. The company extends its reach through eBay and Depop marketplaces and funds a loyalty program (Full Circle Rewards), a textile recycling initiative (RCYCL), and a garment donation program (Rewear). Revenue from all sales supports The Salvation Army's community programs. Operational services include Click & Collect, flat-rate shipping via Australia Post ($8 Parcel Post / $10 Express Post), a 30-day returns policy, in-store gift cards, student/concession discounts, and a free home collection service for donations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Full Circle Rewards: In-store loyalty program where customers earn 1 point per $1 spent, equal to 5c credit towards future purchases.
• RCYCL
• Project Boomerang
• Rewear

Products and services

• Salvos Stores Physical Stores Brick-and-mortar op shop network of more than 400 locations across Australia selling donated second-hand clothing, homewares, books, collectables, furniture, toys, electronics, and sporting goods to individual consumers, with all profits funding The Salvation Army's community programs.
• Salvos Stores Online Store National e-commerce platform enabling consumers to browse and purchase second-hand donated goods online, with new items listed daily, flat-rate Australia Post shipping, free Click & Collect, and a 30-day returns policy.
• Salvos Stores eBay Store Salvos Stores' storefront on the eBay marketplace, enabling national and international sales of second-hand donated goods to eBay's audience.
• Salvos Stores Depop Store Salvos Stores' storefront on the Depop social shopping marketplace, targeting younger demographics to sell curated second-hand clothing and accessories.
• Full Circle Rewards In-store loyalty program awarding 1 point per $1 spent (equivalent to 5c credit) on in-store donated product purchases; points are redeemable on any in-store purchase at 400+ locations.
• RCYCL + REWEAR Bundle Bundled offering of fully compostable return bags: the RCYCL bag for unwearable textiles to be recycled into new fabrics, and the Rewear bag for wearable clothing to be donated to Salvos Stores; available via rcycl.com.au and The Iconic.
• Factory-New Mattresses and Bed Frames Factory-new mattresses and bed frames sold exclusively in-store at select Salvos Stores locations, featuring Bonnell or Pocket Springs and compressed mattress-in-a-box packaging, with prices ranging from $169 to $389 depending on product and size.
• Salvos Stores Gift Card Physical gift cards available for purchase in-store at participating Salvos Stores, with denominations from $10 to a maximum of $500 and a 3-year validity period, redeemable across participating in-store locations.
• Free Home Collection Free door-side collection service for donated pre-loved items, allowing donors to request a home pickup of donated goods rather than dropping them off at a store or Australia Post location.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 40 million items kept in circulation in 2025, diverting usable goods from landfill
• +7 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered campaign, core, major and supporting.

• CricutcampaignGTM or Marketing Partner · 24 July 2026Cricut partnered with Salvos Stores to launch the 'DIY July Edit' nationwide initiative encouraging Australians to transform donated second-hand items into personalised creations using Cricut's crafting machines. The campaign promotes circular economy principles and cost savings during rising living costs, centred on themes including wedding projects, home renter decorating, and children's room makeovers. Participants are encouraged to share their transformations on social media.
• Elephant RoomcoreTechnology or Integration · 17 April 2025Australian ecommerce performance agency Elephant Room partnered with Salvos Stores in April 2025 for a large-scale digital transformation project. The first stage involved migrating Salvos Stores' email service provider from Active Campaign to Klaviyo's marketing automation platform, integrating existing systems to enhance customer data management and marketing automation. Later stages will establish an omnichannel framework enabling seamless data flow between in-store and online environments under Klaviyo's architecture.
• The IconicmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 15 October 2024The Iconic partnered with Salvos Stores and RCYCL to make RCYCL + Rewear bags available through The Iconic's platform, enhancing clothing waste and reuse options for The Iconic's customers. This followed the highly successful 'Giving Made Easy' partnership. The Iconic customers can now donate pre-loved clothes directly to Salvos Stores or recycle their unwearable clothes into new materials via RCYCL.
• Queensland GovernmentcoreOthers · 30 July 2024The Queensland Government is supporting Salvos Stores to install a textile recycling plant (Project Boomerang) in Carole Park, Queensland, as the foundation for a textiles circular economy hub in south-east Queensland. This partnership provides government funding and backing for Salvos Stores' textile recovery and recycling infrastructure.
• RCYCLcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRCYCL is a leading innovator in recycling unwearable clothing into new fabrics for fashion production. Through its approach to textile recycling, RCYCL ensures that donated clothing contributes to creating new garments rather than ending up in landfills. Salvos Stores and RCYCL are strategic partners in textile recovery, offering the RCYCL bag (for unwearable textiles) and Rewear bag (for wearable donations) as a bundled offering. RCYCL garments are sorted by fibre, shredded, spun into yarn, and woven into new products through RCYCL's factory.
• Hubbed (ParcelPoint)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHubbed provides a network of 1,400+ parcel drop-off, pickup, and return locations (convenience stores, pharmacies, service stations) across Australia, open late and on weekends. Salvos Stores and RCYCL customers use Hubbed ParcelPoints to drop off their RCYCL (for recycling) and Rewear (for donation) bags, facilitating convenient textile recovery without the need for post office visits.
• Australia PostsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAustralia Post serves as the shipping partner for Salvos Stores' online orders, providing both parcel post ($8 flat rate, 2–6 business days) and express post ($10 flat rate, 1–3 business days) delivery across Australia. Returns are also processed via Australia Post's Returns Portal. Additionally, Australia Post locations serve as drop-off points for clothing donations to Salvos Stores.
• UNiDAYSsupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerUNiDAYS partnership provides Salvos Stores' online customers who are verified students with a 20% discount on all online purchases, any day of the week, driving student acquisition and supporting price-sensitive consumers.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Vinnies (St Vincent de Paul Society): Vinnies is Australia's other major charity op-shop chain, operating hundreds of stores selling donated second-hand clothing, furniture and household goods to fund community programs. It directly competes with Salvos Stores for donors, shoppers, volunteers, and government/charity mind-share across every Australian state.
• Red Cross Shops (Australian Red Cross): Red Cross Shops operate a national network of charity op shops selling donated second-hand goods to fund humanitarian programs. They share Salvos Stores' donation-collection and resale model, mission-driven branding, and target audience of budget-conscious and value-driven Australian consumers.
• Lifeline (Lifeline Australia Op Shops): Lifeline operates charity op shops across Australia reselling donated clothing and household goods to fund crisis support and suicide prevention services. It mirrors Salvos Stores' model of converting donations into revenue for community programs, targeting the same eco-conscious and bargain-hunting consumer base.
• Anglicare Op Shops: Anglicare operates charity op shops across Australian states selling donated second-hand goods to fund community welfare programs. Comparable to Salvos Stores in donation-driven supply, mission-driven branding, and broad category resale, with overlapping donor and shopper demographics.
• Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) Op Shops: BSL operates social enterprise op shops in Victoria and beyond, reselling donated goods to fund programs addressing disadvantage. It shares Salvos Stores' mission-led resale model, donation logistics, and positioning in the Australian charity retail sector.

Broad incumbents

• Depop: Depop is a global social resale marketplace popular with Gen Z and younger fashion shoppers — Salvos Stores actively sells on Depop to reach this demographic. Comparable as a second-hand fashion channel targeting the same eco-conscious, brand-seeking, value-driven shoppers Salvos Stores pursues.
• eBay Australia: eBay is Australia's largest online C2C and B2C resale marketplace, where Salvos Stores maintains an official storefront. Comparable as a mass-market second-hand goods channel serving similar value-seeking, vintage-hunting consumers, but operating on a vastly larger commercial scale.
• ThredUp: ThredUp is a major US-based online resale platform operating the largest second-hand fashion infrastructure, including resale-as-a-service. Comparable to Salvos Stores in tackling textile waste through resale at scale, though operating on a commercial, VC-funded model rather than a charitable one.

Emerging players

• The Iconic: The Iconic is Australia's leading online fashion retailer and an existing Salvos Stores partner via the RCYCL/Rewear bag distribution initiative. Comparable through its emerging circular fashion programme that competes for the same sustainability-conscious Australian shoppers.

Others

• RCYCL: RCYCL is a textile recycling innovator and strategic partner of Salvos Stores, running the fibre-sort-to-yarn recycling process that powers the RCYCL bag and Project Boomerang initiatives. Comparable as a circular economy enabler operating in the same textile recovery value chain.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/salvosstores
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/salvos-stores
• Instagraminstagram.com/salvosstores
• Xx.com/salvosstores

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Salvos Stores