Arco was born out of a love of circularity and community.

Passing on preloved items from one family to the next has always been a cherished part of motherhood to the Arco founder, Kate. Kate loves both giving and receiving from her community of mama friends, but we recognise that isn’t always easy to get the right hand-me-downs at the exact moment they are needed.

When Kate needed new things for her quickly growing, energetic little boys, she was left with two unappealing options: (1) buy new (expensive and ecologically suboptimal) or (2) sift through all the local thrift stores hoping to find the quality she was looking for. Kate’s background in sustainability meant she was naturally predisposed toward option 2 and to seek out second-hand items for her children and she knew she was not the only parent in the Western Algarve with this desire. Kate created Arco Preloved to give local parents a third option, one that combines quality with affordability, accessibility, and eco-appeal. See how the Preloved Shop works here.

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But Kate did not stop there and wanted to combine this new circular economy with building a community of parents, in particular mothers, in the Western Algarve. The values of circularity and community are at the core of the Arco Community today.

Today, Arco has expanded beyond the Preloved Shop to also incorporate the Arco Collective - the name of the community of families that connect around Arcos values and live around Lagos. The Collective runs different events each month, including a weekly coffee meetup in the Lagos Marina, a monthy Mamas Supper Club, and more. To stay updated, subscribe to our newsletter via the contact page here.