Thrift Stores Show Record Profit In Dire Economic Times

It is one of those strange statistics that you'll run into every once in a while, that during economic depressions, the chocolate industry actually will show an increase in sales,

Seattle, WA (prHWY.com) August 26, 2012 - It is one of those strange statistics that you'll run into every once in a while, that during economic depressions, the chocolate industry actually will show an increase in sales, because that's one way that people drown their sorrows. In a statistic this is similar but perhaps not so depressing, it has been found that during the most recent economic downturn, the sales and profits for thrift stores has gone up significantly.

This makes sense if you think about it, as more and more people understand that they don't have the money to pay full retail prices, but they can find clothes and other things at thrift stores for 10% of the price they would pay elsewhere. It doesn't matter what economic bracket you are in, you can always save money by buying items that cost less.

Thrift store owners are both happy with this and a little agitated.

"We've had to hire a ton of new employees to handle all of the demand," says George Thompson, "and we're not exactly equipped for a huge amount of traffic in our stores. Plus, even though people are buying a lot more, the amount that people donate to us is actually going down, which means we have to be more careful about our stocking and shipping processes as well, so that people don't get upset when they don't see the kind of variety that they are used to."

This is a national phenomenon as well, will nearly all thrift stores in the country either posting a greater profit or staying the same as they were, while the other businesses around them are necessarily suffering with the fact that no one has any money any more.

"It's the only place that I shop other than the grocery store," says Deborah Allen, a mother of three in Fresno, "because it simply doesn't make sense to go to retail stores anymore. I get as much healthy food as I can from farmer's markets and organic food chains, and after that I don't have much left over, so it's time to head to all of the local thrift stores to see what kind of bargains I can pick up."

No one knows what the long-term ramifications are of the upturn in thrift store profits, but hopefully if the economy returns to where it needs to be, the whole situation will get sorted.

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Tag Words: thrift stores

Categories: Consumer

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