Introducing Charlotte Staerck, CEO & Co-Founder of The Handbag Clinic
Charlotte Staerk - Founder and CEO - The Handbag Clinic
Meet Charlotte, Founder and CEO of The Handbag Clinic, your one stop shop to buy, restore, authenticate and sell the world’s most coveted handbags.
Join us as she shares her inspiration, growth plans and how she juggles motherhood and running a million-pound-turnover business and the importance of sustainable luxury.
The Handbag Clinic are trusted by some of the biggest names in fashion; from well-known luxury handbag makers to auction houses such as Christie’s. They have affiliations with several luxury brands including Jimmy Choo and Aspinal of London.
You can find them in store on the Kings Road in London, or in Leeds and Newcastle.
website | ig: the handbag clinic
“I’ve been obsessed with handbags forever. I’m not sure why, I grew up in a tiny village outside of Newcastle, and my mum wasn’t interested at all! But, I remember, when I got a Saturday job, I’d stare at them through the windows — and, as soon I could, I bought my first brand-named bag: a cream Luella tote, at 18, which I thought was the best thing ever.”
Charlotte Staerk - Founder and CEO - The Handbag Clinic
What was the inspiration to set up your business?
However, my beloved first handbag soon got covered in dye transfer, from my jeans. And, a colleague told me there was a local company, The Furniture Clinic, that did repairs. She gave me their number, but I lost the piece of paper. If I had gone, it turns out I’d have met my future husband, Ben, two years earlier than I did — at a bar in Newcastle. Ben had built up a business with his father cleaning and restoring furniture and leather household items since 2004 and, by the time I met him, it had grown from a small online family operation to a thriving global business with a team of 75 people and a network of distributors around the world, still operated from its North East headquarters.
At the time, I was on a fast-track career path having risen through local government ranks to be appointed as a Senior Buyer of pharmaceutical and medical equipment for the NHS. I was fiercely independent and my career was going from strength to strength but my passion was always luxury handbags – I would spend ages browsing the preowned market and buying and selling at the right time so I could covet the latest It bag – something that’s now been coined as circular fashion.
I’d work with Ben to protect the bags and restore them to ensure they held or even increased their value when selling them on. It was incredible what he and his team could do – from removing stubborn stains and scratches to improving colour loss and repairing broken zips, worn edges, split piping and reinforcing shape and stretched straps. Nothing seemed to be unsalvageable. I couldn’t believe how profitable it was. For example, I made £200 on a damaged velvet Gucci cross-body bag.
How did you identify repairs and resale as a potential market area?
Ben and I observed the increasing number of handbags that were being sent to Furniture Clinic for restoration and I encouraged Ben to officially incorporate Handbag Clinic as its own independent luxury handbag offshoot in 2013 – all still operated through our e-commerce platform at the time.
We opened the doors to our first store on King’s Road in 2015. Restoration was still very much the heart of the business but we had so much retail space and Ben wanted to use this for something more. This was when I had my lightbulb moment. We were having dinner one night, and I suggested integrating buying and selling preowned luxury handbags as a resale operation in our stores. No one else was doing it on a large scale, at the time. Nor were they combining restoration with resale which enables customers to fetch the highest possible price for their bags.
There was a clear gap in the market. So I decided to leave my career and board Handbag Clinic as a buyer to develop the preowned resale operation. At this point we opened the Newcastle store which was designed to also showcase our amazing range of preowned designer handbags as well as facilitate restoration consultations.
How did you take it from idea to action?
Ben had seen my addiction, knew I was onto something, and that I’d be the person to do it! So, I started researching non-stop, for about a year, until I knew everything there was to possibly know about bags... Ben split his time between Furniture Clinic and raising investment capital for Handbag Clinic whilst supporting on strategy. I took charge of the day-to-day operations, developing a new system from scratch, working out which brands were popular, sourcing and photographing products. It really spiralled from there. Within that first year, we launched the integrated offering of ‘Buy, Sell, Restore’ and, in addition to our Chelsea and Newcastle store, we also opened another store in Leeds, followed by rollout into Europe (Monaco) and the Middle East (Qatar). We quickly experienced rapid growth, growing as much as 186% in six months.
Today, we operate through a chain of four stores, including our flagship store on Kings Road in London, Leeds and Newcastle. Plus, we have affiliations with several luxury brands including Jimmy Choo and Aspinal of London. Prices vary on each bag but start a £15 and go up to £650 — and our most popular service is the full restoration, from £255.
We’ve handled over £50 million of bags, and our turnover was £1 million last year. All of our bags come with a 12-month warranty for manufacturing faults, plus we authenticate them, so there are no fakes. And, it’s eco too, reducing vast amounts of waste.
Charlotte Staerk - Founder and CEO - The Handbag Clinic
What are your future growth plans for the business?
In summer last year, we secured an £800k investment to drive ambitious growth plans and enrich four core business areas; streamlining systems and infrastructure, investment in innovative new technology, brand building and recruitment of personnel, which includes senior management roles. Over the next year we are focused on enriching and streamlining our operations, recruiting and priming the business for continued growth.
The Handbag Clinic launched as a concession into Fenwick Newcastle in October 2020 followed by Fenwick Colchester in April last year and it proved to be a huge success – we hit our monthly sales targets in just three days. We are rolling out in more stores and have plans to continue this expansion to other Fenwick stores.
We are constantly striving to innovate, for example we’re currently working with Durham University’s Computational Cosmology Department to create an automated valuation of bags and even facial recognition technology to asses a bag’s condition and authenticity. Whilst the core of our business relies on specialist hand-crafted skills and authentication work, we are also developing and investing into innovative technology that will enable faster, more streamlined systems.
Because of the human interaction, physical stores on the high street are still hugely important to us. Our flagship Chelsea store is the heart of the business. Whilst we adapted very well during the pandemic, it also highlighted the importance of the online journey so we plan to continue to invest in improving and streamlining systems to ensure we can offer a digital service that parallels the bespoke, personalised and unique service offered in store.
Can you tell us more about the ethos behind the brand?
Sustainability
Handbag Clinic is the result of two passions colliding; a life-long obsession with handbags (mine!) and a family legacy of leather restoration. As a one-stop-shop for sustainable luxury, we buy, restore, authenticate and sell the world’s most coveted handbags, empowering customers to get their newness fix guilt-free whilst being kind to the planet. Through restoration and authentication, we remove barriers to sustainability, acting as a proud gatekeeper and authority for the luxury handbag and accessories market - ensuring its integrity and circularity for generations to come.
Accessibility
I’ve always had a passion for circularity, buying and selling on handbags through eBay when I was 16 years old. When we incorporated resale into the business model in 2015, we rapidly grew sales by 500% in just 18 months. I’m proud that we have since been at the vanguard of the consumer shift towards conscious consumption, trailblazing the charge to make luxury more sustainable and accessible, whilst helping to democratise luxury fashion.
Through resale, the Clinic encourages customers not to put an end to handbags they no longer use and guides its community of handbag lovers through a unique circular journey; prolonging the lifespan of their most treasured items– or adding significant financial value, freeing up cash to reinvest in new fashion desires.
Craftsmanship
We also celebrate craftsmanship and engage passionate young people in our dedicated Artisanal team. We offer a three-year training programme enabling our Artisans to develop in their chosen field of craftsmanship and developing bespoke brand-specific techniques.
What would you say is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt since setting up your business?
I think learning to see failures as a learning opportunity. It’s a case of getting up, trying again and learning from your mistakes. If you keep going, it’ll all work out eventually.
What are your most valuable business resources?
I would say it’s the people – our team – who make our business. We all work tirelessly and we’re all aligned with the same vision and you can’t even begin to put a price on that. I see it as a real responsibility and a huge honour developing the people who come and stay to develop their careers within our business. We work hard and have a lot fun along the way too.
Charlotte Staerk - Founder and CEO - The Handbag Clinic
Have you faced any challenges as a woman in business? If so, how have you dealt with this?
Being noticed and being taken seriously. As a young woman in the business world, I’ve experienced being side-lined on more than one occasion, with one man actually turning his back on me in favour of speaking with my husband, Ben. It infuriates me – women in business have come such as long way and the last few years have seen something of an awakening in terms of equality but we still have long way to go.
What do you wish you had known before you started?
I would probably have said to myself - be prepared to work harder than you ever dreamed possible and for it to take over your whole life. Success doesn’t come overnight – the ascent towards your vision is long and steep but only you can see it so don’t be too hard on yourself.
I would also say to have a path but remain open minded and flexible – building relationships along that path and being willing to accept changes, even it seems it may lead you down a different path, is part of the growth journey and can take you to even better places.
What are your 5 go-to tips for running your business?
As a founder working in the sustainability business, it is really important to lead by example. You can talk the talk but you also have to walk the walk. I am always striving to ensure sustainability is ingrained in every process within our business – from the products we use, to the packaging we ship items out – we keep waste to an absolute minimum. I even go to the extremes of fishing out recycling that has been put in the wrong bin and locate the culprit.
My advice for any founder trying to build a sustainable brand and business model is:
Build from the inside out –
a brand architecture that demonstrates authenticity and action will ensure you connect to consumers whilst making an impact
2. Have a clear vision –
Your brand vision must communicate the ‘why’ in your business model and its relevance to sustainability. Use this to unlock the potential of your brand by inspiring stakeholders with a clear and compelling vision
3. Understand your consumer -
Because I’m so passionate about luxury handbags and the preowned market as a whole, I understand the customer and can instinctively read what they want – ahead of the curve. The most important part of my job is being on the front line – engaging with and understanding every need and behaviour of my customer
4. Lead by example –
You can ‘talk the talk’ but must also ‘walk the walk’. Sustainability is not a value-add proposition and should be integrated into every process of your business, from packaging to distribution, supplies and products used – you must practice what you preach
5. Your team is your most important asset –
At Handbag Clinic, we all work tirelessly and we’re all aligned with the same vision and you can’t even begin to put a price on that. I see it as a tremendous responsibility and a huge honour developing the people who come and stay to develop their careers within our business. We work hard and have a lot fun along the way too
Charlotte Staerk - Founder and CEO - The Handbag Clinic
W E A L T H
Describe your relationship with money and personal finance:
Overall, I’d say it’s pretty healthy. I’ve had a resale mindset since I was 16 years old – if I wanted something new, I’d sell on something else first. I guess it helped remove the guilt factor! I associate my biggest passion (handbags) with joy too and I love treating myself to a new handbag at the airport when I’m going on holiday. Eventually, I’ll sell that on too through the Clinic, so it’s a constant circle cycle.
How do you define wealth?
I think it comes down to contentment. Leading a fulfilled life with purpose and striving for your dreams. If you can strike a balance between spiritual and material wealth – that’s where the magic lies.
What is the best financial decision you have ever made?
Investing in core team members is without a doubt the smartest financial decision you can do as an SME. The recent investment last summer allowed me to expand the team and hiring Sarah-Jane, our incredible FD, was a strategically smart decision for Handbag Clinic as her experience and knowledge is invaluable for navigating the next stage of our growth plan.
What did you learn about finance and money when you were growing up?
I was fortunate enough to have a mother that taught me to understand and appreciate the value of money. She worked super hard to support my brother and I, so we always grew up with strong values and a healthy relationship with money. We had to earn our own spending money doing chores around the house and I got into the habit of saving up for the things I wanted most.
Which area of finance do you wish you knew more about?
I’m quite interested in Bitcoin and the rapidly evolving NFT space. The luxury fashion brands are making bold strides so I’m fascinated to see if and how this might impact the luxury handbag market. I’m working closely with my FD, Sarah-Jane, to better understand it all.
What does a typical ‘day in the life’ look like for you?
Until just over a month ago, my typical working day was:
Waking around 7am and checking my emails
Yoga in the garden
Catching up with the house contractors to discuss ongoing elements for our Manor house renovation
Picking up a coffee en-route to the office
Meetings with management to discuss day to day operations, working closely with the buying team to review incoming bags
More meetings and being on hand for the team throughout the afternoon
Once home, tending to the plants in the greenhouse (I’ve become very green-fingered in our new garden!) and playing with Enzo, our dog. I try to use our home-grown produce grown to cook dinner with too.
Having dinner with my husband, Ben.
Catching an episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, which I love!
However..! Since the arrival of our son, Elliot-James, in January my days are a little different. I’ve taken a temporary step back from my duties at the Clinic for a while to make the most of being a mummy, which I love.
Who is your role model?
I would have to say my mum. I grew up in a single parent household in a small village outside of Newcastle. It wasn’t easy for her raising my brother and I alone, but she was and still is a formidable force, holding down high-ranking senior positions in corporations whilst studying for several university degrees. We grew up with a strong set of values and unshakable work ethic – I wouldn’t be who I am today without her and she inspires me every single day.
What inspires or motivates you?
This work is truly a labour of love and we get to see items being brought back to life that may have otherwise been discarded – seeing the amazement and joy this brings our clients really is priceless. Often clients don’t think it is possible to restore their item to its former glory and yet, to us, it’s an everyday occurrence. When they are reunited with their bag and they see the results, they can’t believe their eyes – we have chocolates, cakes and thank you cards sent into the office from grateful clients. This makes our day and reminds us why what we do is so special. One client I will never forget is a lady who accidentally ruined her Jimmy Choo wedding shoes just days before the wedding. We fixed these for her in time for her big day and she was overjoyed – you can’t put a price on that and it motivates our entire team.
Speaking of your wardrobe, what are your ‘go to’ staples?
In terms of handbags? I compile my personal collection based on use or aesthetic - so generally speaking I have a black tote, which is perfect for meetings. But, if a new black tote comes in that I love and I want to update my collection with, I will sell the old and upgrade it with something new. I also like to have a go-to summer evening bag, perfect for holidays. Again, I will swap this out should something else tempt me. The cherished items I can’t see myself parting with include my metallic Chanel Boy bag, I love an iconic shape with a twist and the metallic silver makes it really easy to wear but also stand out. I also adore my vintage orange Chanel and use any excuse I can to put it to use. I’d also have to say my classic YSL cream shoulder bag - I bought this just before I started the Buying and Selling service at Handbag Clinic, so it has huge sentimental value. At that time, Newcastle only had two department stores which stocked anything close to designer and their chief luxury offering was Mulberry. I had worked my way up saving whilst buying and selling the likes of DKNY and Luella privately until I could afford a Mulberry. But this YSL shoulder bag was my first purchase outside of this tiny corner or the fashion industry. It was about £750 I think when I bought it and now they are worth in excess of £1000.
What’s next for you?
It’s been an incredible year for us. Last summer we secured an £800k investment to drive ambitious growth plans and enrich four core business areas; streamlining systems and infrastructure, investment in innovative new technology, brand building and recruitment of personnel, which includes senior management roles. So, we’re busy streamlining our operations, recruiting and priming the business for continued growth.
On a more personal level, Ben and I are in the middle of renovating our home – a beautiful Victorian Manor. As if that wasn’t enough, we welcomed our first born in January this year, Elliot-James. So, you could say, I have my hands full!
