The Beautiful Store
The BeautifulStore Foundation is the brand name of a chain of social enterprise shops that promote recycling and sharing in Korea. Starting with a store in Anguk, Seoul in 2002, The BeautifulStore Foundation has seen almost 120 more stores open in 16 cities across Korea, and two shops abroad. These stores serve as local meeting places for people to work together to bring about positive change in their local communities.
Beautiful Store collects donations of old or worn-out items and then sells these donated items to raise money for charity. The material for recycling is given to the social improvement movement. From the beginning, Beautiful Store has accepted donations which are used, such as clothing, books, bags, shoes, kitchenware and appliances. Beautiful Store volunteers repair the items when needed and then they are distributed to the other stores.
Beautiful Store operates at flea markets to promote the culture of recycling, donation, and sharing. Instead of charging fees for the shop, Beautiful Store collects part of the sales profits as donation. Beautiful Store helps small businesses from developing countries by importing their products for fair prices.
To find out more visit: http://eng.beautifulstore.org
AMERICAN GIANT
American Giant was founded in February 2012 by Bayard Winthrop, former head of Chrome Industries, to address what he saw as a lack of affordably priced high-quality American-made products. He believed that by selling direct to the customer, a business could save enough on distribution and marketing to sell at mainstream prices products manufactured in America. The company was named one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2015 and cited for "breathing new life into U.S. apparel manufacturing".
PANTAGONIA
Patagonia commits 1% of its total sales to environmental groups, through One Percent for the Planet, an organization of which Yvon Chouinard was a founding member. One Percent for the Planet encourages businesses to commit 1% of their annual net revenue to nonprofit charity organizations focused on conservation and sustainability. In 2016, Patagonia took this initiative to the next level and pledged to contribute 100% of sales from Black Friday to environmental organizations, totaling $10m.
In 2012, Patagonia became a Certified B Corporation, making it a for profit company that meets “rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency”. The company was the first to be registered as a benefit corporation in the State of California, after the California Corporations Code were revised setting new specific requirements.