Mystery woman leaves shelves bare at two Crouch End charity shops in £1,600 spending spree

A woman spent thousands of pounds at two charity shops in Crouch End
Dominic Lipinski/PA

A mystery woman spent more than £1,600 in a lightning-fast spree at two charity shops in north London, almost clearing them out of items.

In an extraordinary act of generosity, the customer visited the stores in Crouch End on Monday, buying everything from clothes and shoes to handbags and accessories.

She spent a total of £1,116 at a Shelter store, grabbing mountains of items, and shelled out more than £500 at a Children's Air Ambulance store.

As surprised workers workers sought to find out her identity, she claimed to one that she was a Brazilian businesswoman and told another that she owned a honey farm in Guyana.

Sharon De-Freitas, manager of the Air Ambulance shop, told the Standard: “Before she came in I thought business had been very slow, I was worried we weren't going to meet our targets.

“She came in with two huge suitcases. She started piling items at the counter.

Shelter in Crouch End was one of two shops that the woman spent thousands of pounds in
Google

“It kept mounting up, she went to all the different departments, cleared me out of all my men’s clothes and bought most of our ladies stock.

“She was in the store for at least half an hour.”

Ms De-Freitas, who has worked at the shop for four years, said the woman was buying the items for workers at her honey farm in Guyana.

She added: “As it kept going I started to have a little chat with her why she was buying so many items. She said she had a honey farm in Guyana, 1,000 acres and 5,000 people employed.

“I have had one customer come in and spend £100 but nothing like this has ever happened.

“Before she paid she said she had to go to the bank to make a transfer, I didn’t think she’d come back but she did.”

Meanwhile, as the same woman spent over a thousand pounds at a Shelter store, she claimed that she was a Brazilian businesswoman buying items for her mother.

A spokeswoman for Shelter said: “On Monday April 3, someone came into Shelter’s Crouch End shop on Topsfield Parade and purchased £1,116 worth of goods in one go, leaving the rails bare.

“The haul consisted of women's clothes, shoes, handbags and accessories meaning the store needed to be re-stocked from other Shelter charity shops nearby.

“We do not know much about the shopper except she was a Brazilian woman who said she was buying goods for her mother.”

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