STAFF at an eco-friendly furniture shop are hoping Christmas can help boost their dwindling stock.

The recession has hit retailers hard and charity-based FRADE is no exception.

The Stockton shop – Furniture Reclamation and Delivery Enterprise – is a valuable source of low-cost secondhand furniture and white goods for people in need.

Its Brunswick Street shop has relied on donated stock for the last 20 years, but householders tightening their belts in the recession have started hanging onto their old furniture instead of buying new.

FRADE chief officer John Trevillion said the market for secondhand, eco-friendly buys is growing.

“Twenty years ago, we were mainly used by people referred by welfare organisations,” he said, “but now we get people looking for bargains, or customers who are into recycling and sustainability.

“Now they say things like ‘I can make covers for that’, or ‘I can sand that down’. There used to be a stigma about buying secondhand but that’s disappeared.”

The craze for interior decorating reached its height a few years ago with programmes like Changing Rooms, he added, but now demand is overtaking supply.

“Our retail sector contacts say people aren’t replacing their furniture as quickly as they used to, and it’s a direct result of the recession.

“We are saying to people ‘don’t forget about us’ if they buy new furniture and other items for Christmas.”