Oi, Northern Ireland retailer that helps homeless people opens first outlet store at designer outlet

Purpose-driven fashion retailer, OutsideIn (Oi) opens its first ever outlet store at Northern Ireland’s premier designer outlet, The Boulevard, Banbridge on Saturday.

Established in 2016 in Belfast, OutsideIn was created to not only sell clothing but to help people experiencing homelessness. Developed with this mission at the forefront, OutsideIn work with a ‘Wear One, Share One’ giving model, where for every product purchased, customers donate brand-new essential clothing items to someone experiencing homelessness through its network of Giving Partners.

Operating as a pop-up in a 1,314sq ft unit across four weekends in February and March, OutsideIn’s new outlet store will sell its hugely popular current clothing and accessory range including fleeces, outerwear, sweatshirts, poms and beanie hats at discounted prices.

Growing steadily from launch, Oi with the support of its Giving Partner network, has given over 212,000 items of essential clothing to people in need across 41 cities and seven different countries, since the company began. Looking ahead, the Northern Irish retailer has pledged to donate two million products over the next five years.

Chris Nelmes, retail director at The Boulevard, said: “Responsible retail is hugely important to us at The Boulevard and so we are delighted to welcome the socially conscious business, OutsideIn onsite and fully support its homelessness initiatives.

“We put a large focus on our ESG outputs, and understanding how important it is to our customers, we feel Oi will be the perfect fit for our shopper demographic and wish them every success in this new outlet venture.”

David Johnston, founder of OutsideIn, added: “Whilst we mainly operate online, we are passionate about people and relish in the opportunity to have conversations in our new store and give our customers the chance to hear some of the stories behind our unique designs and the people they are helping with every purchase.

“This is a huge milestone for us as a company to open a store within a premier outlet like The Boulevard. The support from our customers has taken us from strength to strength and made this possible. The Boulevard has a fantastic retail offering and we are really looking forward to opening our doors and trading alongside these top brands, meeting a lot of new customers and helping even more people in need.”