In slow economy, thrift store business is speeding up

Leopoldo and Francisca Amezcua are having trouble finding jobs.

"We were picking cherries in Naches, but now they're laying people off and there's no more work," Leopoldo said in Spanish.

To cope, the couple shops at Goodwill twice a week, trying to stretch the value of each dollar.

"Goodwill is the store for intelligent people," said Francisca. "They have everything here, like in normal stores, but you can choose things for a more economic price."

The Amezcuas aren't alone.

In the Yakima Valley, Goodwill and other similar thrift stores are seeing record sales.

And it's not just the Yakima Valley. The National Association for Resale & Thrift Shops (NARTS) reports that a recent survey shows sales were dramatically up at more than 75 percent of its 1,000-store members.

So far this year, Goodwill's sales across much of Washington are 6 percent above last year's record 23 percent jump.

Several factors are involved, but one of the biggest reasons is the economy, said Matthew Erlich, the spokesperson for Tacoma Goodwill, which operates 20 Washington stores, including the one in Yakima. The stores saw $32.6 million in sales last year.

St. Vincent de Paul Center, a thrift store in Union Gap, said it hasn't had a notable sales increase but has seen growing numbers of people asking for free assistance from its emergency programs, including food and money donations.

Calls last week to the Salvation Army's store in Yakima were not returned.

At the Goodwill, at 3700 Tieton Drive, offerings include clothing, furniture and other household items.

Among recent shoppers was Bonnie Albano, an employee of Yakima Valley Community College, who said she visits thrift stores at least every two weeks. She said she's been trying especially hard to save money now that gas prices are so high.

She said she usually buys clothes because she has three teenage grandchildren in her custody who go through them very quickly.

"One week they want to wear jeans, and the next week they want to wear shorts, so they cut up their jeans," Albano said. "I really like the affordability (at Goodwill)."

She said she also buys used movies at the thrift store.

"We don't go to the movies anymore because money is so tight, so I try to buy movies they haven't seen so we can spend some family time together," she said.

There is no typical resale shopper, according to NARTS, which is based in St. Clair Shores, Mich.

Shoppers come from all economic levels, some driven by the need to save money and others by the excitement of finding a treasure, according to the organization.

One survey showed about 16 to 18 percent of Americans will shop at a thrift store during a given year, according to NARTS.

"I'm trying to save money everywhere I can," said Kim Mason, who was looking for a dress to buy for her daughter. "I like Goodwill because it's very organized and all the clothes and stuff are in good shape."

Pam Corbray, a Memorial Hospital employee, said Goodwill offers the best items in the best price range, so she prefers it over other thrift stores.

"I'm here every Friday -- 100 percent more often than ever before," she said. "I thought I'd have the opportunity to spend more money on myself now that I'm home alone, but with prices in gas and utilities going up, it's pretty much forced me to become a bargain shopper."

Brigitte Cochran, manager of the Yakima Goodwill, said she's surprised by the number of people coming in this summer.

"We have the regulars coming in, but then there's also more and more people we haven't seen before," she said.

She said the Yakima Goodwill held a large sale on July 4, and she was astonished at how many people showed up that Friday night. The store was full even when the fireworks were getting started, she said.

Tacoma Goodwill donates 90 percent of its income to its three workforce development offices in Tacoma, Longview and Yakima. With job training and placement programs, the offices help connect more than 1,000 disabled and low-income individuals to jobs at Goodwill or elsewhere each year.

Goodwill accepts and sells donations from the public, mostly clothing and other household items.

"If you'd give it to a friend, then it's something we can accept," Erlich said.

Cochran said donations that can't be used are sent to Third World countries or recycled by other companies who can salvage them.

Despite an increase in customers, she said she was worried that the economic downturn would mean falling donations.

But she said the only decrease she's seen is in the amount of shoes the Yakima Goodwill receives.

"I guess it's because people can make do with three or four pairs of shoes, so they don't buy as many as they used to and don't have as many to donate," she said.

In every other area, she said, people are still interested in downsizing. After yard sales, people don't want to take leftovers back into the house, and when people move in from out of town, they realize they brought too much stuff and donate the excess. When they move out of town, they donate what they can't take with them, she said.

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