The holiday season is here, and it will be the third official December the United States has spent in a recession. Many retail stores have struggled during these difficult economic times as more people are choosing to keep their money in their wallets. Americans may have to sweat over the pricey chore of buying gifts for their loved ones.
However, there is one industry that might not be sweating this season: thrift and resale stores.
According to the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops, 67 percent of thrift stores had an increase in sales during the holiday season of 2008. NARTS also said 78 percent of those stores saw sales increase even more throughout the last year.
"The problems with the economy have brought us new shoppers," Cindy Graham, vice president of marketing for Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana, said. "We have seen an increase in sales in the last year."
Goodwill is a resource that helps the community by working to provide employment opportunities as well as an affordable lifestyle. Goodwill has resale stores all over the country. According to Goodwill's annual reports, total retail sales for new and used goods in central Indiana went up from more than $40,000 in 2007 to more than $50,000 in 2008, right in the middle of the recession.
Goodwill currently has a store in Muncie that offers secondhand clothing, household appliances and furniture, among other things. Graham said November sales at the Muncie Goodwill were up from 2.5 percent to 4 percent, compared to last year.
Goodwill isn't the only Muncie area resale store experiencing a rise in popularity during the last year. When asked if Plato's Closet — a resale store for young women's clothing — in Muncie had an increase in sales since the recession, manager Brittany Boyd said "very much so."
"I would say sales in the last year have gone up about 20 percent," Boyd said.
Boyd also said she has noticed a considerable amount of new shoppers, including students and people from surrounding Indiana cities.
"There has been an increase in Ball State students coming to the store," Boyd said. "We've also seen people coming from far away — from places like Richmond — to come and shop at our store."
Danielle Reed, a senior fashion design and merchandising major, said she loves thrift shopping, especially for clothes.
"Most of the clothes at secondhand stores have stood the test of time," she said. "I mean, if you find a shirt from the '80s, it's been around for a long time."
Reed did her final project for a promotions class on secondhand clothing stores, which she said was a unique choice.
"I wanted to do something a little bit different than what everyone else was doing," she said. "I wanted to show the people that came to the fashions shows that you can really use secondhand and vintage clothing to create a really strong wardrobe."
Reed said despite just focusing on clothes for her project, she discovered in her research that secondhand and vintage clothing shops have many holiday gift opportunities.
"Clothes are always a good thing to buy, but also a lot of good vintage accessories are always good to buy," she said. "I've found a lot of really cool scarves and belts and jewelry, and all of those things are great gifts too."
Reed said her favorite find at a thrift store was a designer Coco Chanel scarf for only around $14 at a local Indianapolis thrift shop.
"You can find a lot of really good quality pieces at a good price," she said.
NARTS recently did another survey to determine third quarter sales figures for 2009. It was revealed that almost 70 percent of the 333 stores that responded experienced sales increases just in the last quarter. According to NARTS, higher figures are expected after the current holiday season.
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