Charity And For-profit Stores That Sell Used Clothing And Other Goods Are Reporting High Interest And Brisk Sales.
In troubled economic times, the lure of a secondhand retail bargain is becoming more powerful, those in the industry say.
The Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries International, the nation's two largest charitable resale organizations, report year-to-date sales increases of 6 percent to 15 percent.
And in the for-profit sector, the gains are more pronounced. In an industry trade group survey of more than 200 resale and thrift shops, nearly two-thirds of those businesses reported higher sales in 2008 compared to the previous year. The average sales increase: 35 percent.
That trend is playing out at Madison's Pink Poodle resale shop on Odana Road, where business has "exploded," owner Beth Testa said. "We've tripled our business since we opened in 2002, when we had 4,000 square feet of space." The business moved into 12,000-square-foot quarters last summer, but within a week "we outgrew that space, too."
Because of the store's growth spurt, Testa arranged with her landlord to lease more space on the building's second floor to accommodate the high-end women's and men's clothing, furniture and household items she sells.
"(On a recent) Monday, we took in 1,500 items from 75 consigners, which is more than ever before," Testa said. "We sell about 300 items every day."
Goodwill stores in Dane County haven't seen the same gains, but sales are slightly above what they were at the same time last year, said Maureen Roche, community relations director for Goodwill of South Central Wisconsin. "We'll have a better idea of how we're doing by the end of the year."
Goodwill stores in other parts of the country have seen bigger sales increases. In the Missouri college town of Columbia, both Goodwill and The Salvation Army report recent sales increases of roughly 25 percent.
April Hayes, a 28-year-old legal secretary, has shopped at the Columbia Goodwill store for six months at the urging of her mother and sister. During a recent weekday lunch break, she combed the store's racks in search of business attire. "I've gotten addicted," she said.
Some industry experts expect interest in resale and thrift shops to continue.
Consumers "can't change the price of gas. They can't change the price of food. They can't make the stock market go up again," said Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops. "But they can control the price of clothes and furniture by being a savvy shopper."
And it's not just lower-income people who are looking for bargains, store owners say.
"We have people of all incomes and all ages coming in here," the Pink Poodle's Testa said. "We're picky about what we take in, but then sell things for about 50 percent of their original price," she said.
Savers Inc., a for-profit thrift store chain based in Bellevue, Wash., also has some unexpected customers, chief executive officer Ken Alterman said.
He said 75 percent of the company's customers are college educated, with an average income between $50,000 and $65,000. Thirty percent of its customers have household incomes exceeding $100,000, he said. Some of the chain's most successful stores are in Redmond, Wash., home to Microsoft; and the high-end waterfront in Victoria, British Columbia. "We're in these beautiful neighborhoods, and the stores just thrive," Alterman said.
Savers, which has a Madison store near West Towne Mall, recently announced plans to open a store on the Far East Side this fall. The chain, which now has 220 Savers and Value Village stores in the United States, Canada and Australia, has had a 10 percent growth rate, Alterman said.
A tough economy isn't always a boon to charity thrift stores, however, said Ernie Stetenfeld, director of community relations for Dane County's St. Vincent de Paul stores. Sales are flat at Stetenfeld's five stores, which help fund the county's largest food pantry.
The flip side is that while people might be more apt to buy at thrift stores, people are also less likely to donate.
"If people are not replacing their gently used couches with new ones, we're not going to see them," he said. "In times like this, people tend to hang on to what they have."
Alan Scher Zagier of The Associated Press and Chris Martell of the Wisconsin State Journal contributed to this report.
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