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The refugee charity will be taking over the space to hold exhibitions and events.
Refuweegee will soon be taking over the former Fopp music store on Byres Road, which shut its doors at the start of this year.
The music retailer Fopp sold discounted CDs and vinyl records and had gone into administration in 2007. Fopp was later bought by HMV but was recently forced to shut when the owners were unable to negotiate their rent.
Refuweegee is a Glasgow-based charity formed in 2015 following the migration crisis and their goal is to help welcome refugees to the city. Since then they have made over 2,000 personal welcome packs for people who have been forcibly displaced and now work with other Scottish organisations to distribute donations. They were formerly based further down Byres Road but were only able to stay there temporarily. This new space will be used as both a place to hold exhibitions and a community space where they can hold their events.
Selina Hales, the founder and director of Refuweegee, told Glasgow Live that she was gutted that Fopp had closed but she is optimistic about the charity taking over the store.
Hales said, “I think we are quite possibly one of the only organisations that can be accepted to follow such an iconic shop. So we are hoping people aren’t too upset about the closure of Fopp because at least it’s being used for something really community-focused.
“It’s going to be a community hub space where people can come in to drop off donations and we will be working from the space as well.”
She also said that they would still keep some of Fopp’s history in the store.
“We are going to keep the banner round the ceiling with the old photos and film imagery and keep the Fopp ‘splat’ on the outside as a nod to what it was and the history of that space,” Hales said.
