You can enjoy a shopping experience with a difference in St Katharine Docks: a shop in which payments are made in honesty envelopes into a custom-made letter box.
We popped into the pop-up bus-based shop earlier in the week to peruse their products. On a quiet lunchtime, it felt slightly eerie to be browsing a shop entirely on our own with no staff in sight. On the one hand, there was no-one to pointlessly ask if you wanted any help, or insist that you had a nice day; on the other, we’re fans of London’s shopkeepers and it seemed a shame there was no-one with whom to share the shopping experience.
Products on sale ranged from British-crafted Londony souvenirs, knitted clothing, children’s and pets’ toys, gardening tools and kitchenware. The items are all priced; the idea is that you’re genteel enough to add the correct money to an honesty envelope and post it into the letter box without being asked. This being swanky St Katharine Dock, it probably works. (Plus, there’s a chap called Barnaby on the top deck who’d presumably get involved if you tried to run off with all the stock.)
Happily, any purchase includes a 10% donation to Compassion in World Farming.
Trusty the Bus and The Honesty Shop will be at St Katharine Dock, London, E1W 1LA for the next couple of months. Visit thehonestyshop.com to find out more.