Thrift stores' business booms across U.S.
— -- Rummaging around for some good news in this recession? Try your local thrift store.
At a time when most retailers are begging for customers, second-hand shops are thriving as the laid-off, and those worried they will be, turn to them for less expensive clothes, furniture and household items. But many thrift shops are also running low on merchandise as fewer people are able to donate.
"Resale has historically been a recession-proof industry," says Adele Meyer of the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops. "Consumers ... are turning to resale as a way of providing for their families while still staying within their budgets."
February revenue at Goodwill Industries stores was up 7.2% over last year, spokeswoman Lauren Lawson says. The Salvation Army doesn't have national figures, but its Western district, which includes six states, saw same-store sales for the six months starting Oct. 1 rise 8%, says Dawn Marks, the group's regional marketing consultant.
"People who wouldn't normally shop in a thrift store but who've lost jobs or had their hours cut back are looking for ways to save," she says.
People aren't donating the way they used to, either, she says. Salvation Army donation pickups in California, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Washington state and Hawaii for the first eight weeks of 2009 were down nearly 13% from last year. Donations of furniture and major appliances are down the most because fewer people are remodeling or moving.
The quantity and quality of donations has changed at Goodwill. "The two-bag donor is now bringing in one bag," Lawson says. "The high-end retail donor is bringing in cheaper things."
In Charlotte, donations at 17 Goodwill stores dropped 7% from January through March compared with last year, while demand for employment training and job-search help — funded by sales — soared 92%, says spokesman Bo Hussey. To cope, Goodwill has sponsored neighborhood and school donation drives, advertised on yard signs and added drop-off trailers at malls. In Colorado Springs, Goodwill outlets have offered 20% store discounts to donors.
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