Supermarket chain Asda is to start selling second-hand clothes in 50 of its stores across the UK. The retailer said the concept had already been successfully tried out at a store in Leeds, and it now plans to stock the used garments more widely. For the venture, the George at Asda brand has joined forces with specialist wholesaler Preloved Vintage Kilo. The move comes after Asda launched a scheme encouraging customers to take unwanted clothes back to stores. Asda said the latest scheme would "give a new lease of life" to pre-worn garments. It would enable customers to "buy vintage, retro and second-hand branded pieces, preventing thousands of tonnes of garments going to landfill each year". Asda is the UK's third biggest supermarket chain with 632 stores. In February it was sold for £6.8bn to the Issa brothers, two entrepreneurs from Blackburn, and the investment firm TDR Capital. Preloved Vintage managing director Steve Lynam said the company had prevented more than 800 tonnes of clothing ending up in landfill and that linking with Asda would increase that "dramatically". The issue of sustainable fashion has been embraced by a number of retailers in recent years. Several companies take back second-hand clothes, including Asda, Primark and M&S, which have recycling scheme which allow customers to return used items in stores.
