16-07-2025
People are coming hundreds of miles to my shop - I'm under so much pressure
Some people travel for six hours to get to the store after videos went viral on Tiktok
A woman has been plunged into "constant panic" after her £1 thrift warehouse became an overnight sensation on TikTok, leading to a deluge of customers. Carmen Croxall launched the Thrift Warehouse and Secondhand Craft Shop in Exeter, driven by concerns over the waste produced by charity shops.
Utilising a vacant warehouse from a previous business attempt, the mother took it upon herself to address the issue, offering surplus items from charity shops at just £1 each to prevent them from ending up in landfill.
However, a TikTok video showcasing her initiative went viral, and Carmen found herself swamped with shoppers, some journeying hundreds of miles for a bargain. "I feel under intense pressure," the 37 year old entrepreneur confided to Absolutely Business..
Following the video's explosion in popularity, the recent school holidays saw Carmen's warehouse besieged by customers. In just one week, they shifted an astonishing 12,000 items.
But the once ample stockpile, accumulated over months, rapidly dwindled, and the initial positive feedback turned bitter. Carmen explained, "We rely completely on donations, so we can't just order new stock.
"The shelves look bare every day." Disappointed visitors have begun leaving negative reviews, lamenting the wasted journey and the lack of variety compared to what was depicted in the video.
"But I couldn't control any of this." Desperate for more donations, she even proposed extending opening hours until 7 pm to accommodate drop-offs.
"I think I worked until at least 10 pm [through the school holidays]. "I felt so much pressure from people coming from far away – I'm a people pleaser and didn't want people to leave disappointed.
"It just wasn't sustainable at all." The warehouse, which debuted in February, has surged in popularity recently after Carmen began sharing updates about it on her TikTok page, which has amassed 117,000 followers.
Operating as a not-for-profit CIC (community interest company), the aim of the warehouse is to serve the community rather than to turn a profit. Still, Carmen feels that this purpose has been overlooked, with an emphasis shifting away from their 'give and take' approach, which anticipates donations from customers too.
She aimed to create a space where families could obtain what they need affordably whilst also preventing items from going to landfill.
But with visitors arriving from cities afar, the likelihood of them contributing back wanes, undermining the 'sharing concept' she deems "really important for our sharing concept".
She emphasised: "We encourage people to donate back, but if you're visiting once because it's a TikTok trend, then you're not really going to do that." Previously a play centre, Carmen found it challenging to manage the enterprise post-COVID.
Earlier this year, Carmen heralded the advent of this new project and was swiftly overwhelmed with contributions. Expressing the quick success, she declared, "It was very quick to take off.
"We had so many donations that we kept expanding into different parts of the warehouse and putting up shelving and racking. We decided to sell everything for £1 to make it really simple and affordable.
"We don't sell items to people who resell them – you can buy items worth £100 and £200 here for only £1, so we are all about community and sharing items. The £1 can be viewed as a processing fee as it just about covers our costs.
"My fear is that resellers would capitalise on the concept and completely devalue the purpose of it being affordable, as, if you resell an item for profit, then it will become unaffordable to some people by default.
"This has become a huge part of what we do, but it was necessary to guarantee its success." A recent bank holiday was described as 'insanely busy'.
Carmen said: "It was borderline a bit scary. At one point in the middle of the day, it was so busy people were queuing outside just to get in – it felt more like a dance floor at times.
"The busy flurry of people continued all week. A family made a six-hour round trip in a day from Farnham.
"People came from Bristol, St Ives, and Bournemouth. It worries me that people might come and not find anything to buy, whereas it wouldn't be as disappointing if a person who had only travelled 20 minutes didn't find anything.
"We had a one-star review on Google saying it was a wasted trip, don't bother, but I feel that a shop like ours, you need to visit a lot and buy little things here and there, not plan a massive spending spree, as the stock changes so quickly.
"On a good day, we can get out around 2,000 new items, so it's like a new shop or seven day a seven-day-a-week car boot sale."
Carmen is currently toiling away every day of the week at the warehouse trying to cement its foundation, but she notes that, overall, her experience has been "amazing" – and she's doing essential work for the local community, which has greatly taken to the 'give and take' ethos.
