A NEW-STYLE Oxfam shop set to open in Mirfield has upset traders.
The store, at Huddersfield Road, will be the fifth charity shop on the town's high street.
It will sell furniture donated to Oxfam by firms.
Sixty per cent of the premises will be devoted to nearly new and second- hand furniture.
The rest of the shop will have a cafe, children's play area and a sales area for fairly traded goods.
There are no plans to sell adult clothes in the shop.
The premises are now used by Furniture Gallery, which is due to close at the end of April.
The Oxfam store is expected to open in May or June.
The new Oxfam shop has already raised concern from some of the town's traders.
Traders believe saturation point has been reached for charity shops.
Mr Kevin Speight, speaking on behalf of Mirfield Chamber of Trade, said: "It's downgrading the area because it is moving away from a high-class furniture store to a second-hand charity shop.
"It is going to be the first thing that people see when they come into Mirfield."
Mr Speight added: "It is more likely to bring in bargain hunters than anyone else.
"Are these the right type of customers for the shops that are already here?"
Oxfam says its homeware store, which will sell nearly new and second- hand furniture, will not spoil the area.
David Nunn, Oxfam's pilot shops development manager, said: "We will not be pitched at the bottom end of the market.
"We will have a strong identity which will be part of the rest of the complex. But it will not stand out from a negative point of view and will enhance the complex."
Mr Nunn said the complex was the fourth nationally that Oxfam had established.
Initially he had been considering Birmingham, before the details of the Mirfield premises were sent to him in Nottingham.
Mr Nunn added: "The homeware stores are a new concept for Oxfam.
"It is the way the market is going."
Mrs Mandy Tyas, chairman of Mirfield Chamber of Trade, said: "It's a matter of concern whether people will want to pay the full price for goods when there are so many charity shops in the town.
"There are four already and this latest one is going to be huge."
