Charity-based thrift shops foster consumerism with a cause and, for that and other reasons, they’re gaining popularity.
According to a 2023 thredUP “Resale Report,” the “global secondhand market is expected to nearly double by 2027, reaching $350 billion.” The same report says “52% of consumers shopped secondhand apparel in 2022,” with “75% of consumers … open to shopping secondhand.”
And an article from The Wilson Quarterly says: “The thrift store has enjoyed something of a new life … becoming the shopping destination of choice for hipsters looking for vintage wares … (and) serving a role as a shopping destination of necessity for America’s working class.”
The suitability of secondhand, the article says, was often absent.
Quoting writer Jennifer Le Zotte in the New England Quarterly, the piece says, “‘As early as the colonial era, writers, politicians and other vocal critics denounced the sale of used goods.’” That notion, it says, was “born of a vague sense that such goods were sullied or unwholesome.” The article credits “a confluence of Christianity, capitalist philanthropists and a rapidly changing early-20th-century America” with shifting that sentiment.
“The secondhand business model was co-opted by Christian charities,” the article says. “In 1902, Reverend Edgar J. Helms founded what would later be known as Goodwill Industries, which employed the poor and disabled in gathering old goods for reuse.” The piece says that, at the same time, “urban populations swelled (and) the size of residential living quarters shrank, as did the areas where unused goods might be stored. Industrialization produced a more frequent turnover of household goods. These factors were accompanied by a boom in immigration and an increased demand for secondhand goods by these new Americans, for whom (they) served as a means of assimilation.”
The early 20th century saw, too, a boom in philanthropy and economic theories of poverty. Philanthropy, Le Zotte says, was an important part of “distancing secondhand exchange from its negative associations while simultaneously affiliating it with benevolence.”
“Once people saw opportunity,” the piece says, “secondhand stores became part of the market, as well as a piece of the larger social effort to alleviate poverty.” The thrift store, Le Zotte suggests, “linked charity to capitalism decades before the ‘nonprofit sector’ had been so designated.”
Locally, managers of charity-affiliated thrift stores said they’ve seen that shift and increased interest.
“Everybody loves thrift stores,” Erin Marsala, manager of the Susquehanna SPCA’s thrift shop, New Leash on Life, at 5082 state Highway 28 south of Cooperstown, said. “We have a lot of people from Cooperstown, a lot of regulars that come in multiple times a week and we know them by name, and we do have people that travel. And once tourist season picks up … we’ll have a lot of tourists coming through. It’s a great way to socialize and we have all types of people coming in with different needs, from different demographics. We’re the only one that sells clothes, and there’s not a lot of shopping around here, so we do get a lot.”
Though clothing “takes up most of the shop,” Marsala said, New Leash on Life also carries antiques, knick-knacks, artwork, jewelry, pet supplies, kitchen wares, linens, shoes and handbags.
“We used to be on Main Street, but we moved out of there and went down to the Price Chopper plaza and moved in in November of last year, and opened on December 6, 2022,” Pamela Finch, chief financial officer with Helios Care and manager of the agency’s thrift shop at 5626 state Highway 7, Oneonta, said. “Our sales have tripled because of the location — the parking is right there — and we’ve gotten 13 new volunteers since we moved down there, and our donations are amazing. It’s just a beautiful place; everybody that comes in says how wonderful it looks and how bright it is and that we carry really good stuff.”
The Helios Care Thrift Shop, Finch said, is entirely volunteer run, by about 42 volunteers.
“The majority (of customers are from) Oneonta, because we do have other local shelters — Cooperstown, Sidney and Delhi — but we do get people from all over,” Karen Christiance, co-manager of the Super Heroes Humane Society Thrift Shop & Boutique at 4 Main St. in Oneonta, said. “They tend to be regulars; we get people that collect and people that resell. There are still a lot of people that don’t know we’re down in that little shop, so it’s word-of-mouth.
“I think now a lot more people are buying secondhand than ever before,” she continued. “It’s less expensive and there are a lot of people reselling, and that’s how they’re making money.”
The Super Heroes’ shop, Christiance said, is experiencing “a severe shortage of volunteers,” with just six regular volunteers, many of whom, she said, are seniors and “not always available.” Applications to become a volunteer, she said, are available at superheroeshs.org.
Engagement, sources said, is reciprocal, with donations mounting alongside shoppers.
“There are daily deposits,” Finch said, noting that walk-in donations are accepted only during open hours and estate-wide donations can happen by appointment. “Everything we get is repurposed, and we only take the best of the best — clothing, shoes, purses, books, puzzles, jewelry and small furniture, if we can fit it. What we can’t take, we give to Salvation Army or local churches or the ReUse Center or the battered women’s shelter. If we get old sheets or towels, we’ll give those to the SPCA.
“Since we moved, we’ve even gotten nicer donations and better stuff, because it’s more accessible to the public,” she continued. “When we were on Main Street, there was no parking and it was impossible for people to drop off donations. Here, they just pull up and we take them. Once you come in our shop, you come back and back. You never know what little treasure you’re going to find.”
“The biggest part of it is managing all the donations we get,” Marsala said. “There’s a constant influx and you never know what we’re going to get. Even with 20 volunteers, we tend to be low on staffing … so we don’t really have the ability to go through all the donations people give us, as they’re giving. We try to make sure we’re not accepting things out of season or broken or ripped or stained, but we get tons of that, but it’s OK, because we can use that next door at the shelter. Or, we re-donate to the Veterans Outreach Center in Utica … and some household items we donate to ReUse or my Neighbor’s Closet. We try to keep as much out of the trash as we can. And it’s not like a truck is coming in once a month or week; we have one of things and try to showcase it, and it’s like a little puzzle. It’s always changing.”
“There’s a lot of collectors that resell, so they come in weekly or monthly, but when people do come in, they’ll drop money in our jars, and we have people that just make amazing donations,” Christiance said. “A lot of the bigger items I’ll sell online. We just had a rummage sale that did very well where we cleaned out the store, but also asked the community for items and they were so generous. I would sort through and bring items to the store and that got people excited.”
Because of its’ 180-square-foot size, Christiance said, the Super Heroes shop does not take clothing, but has clothing consigned under the agency’s name at Shakedown Street and Silks & Treasures. “Large furniture we love, but can’t take it at the store, so we ask people to call ahead or message us (on Facebook), and I will post that online. We take pet supplies, jewelry, small furniture, antiques and collectibles, home decor, kithenwares and household (items). We just ask that things be clean, complete and not broken.”
The causes behind the shops, sources said, help keep them solvent.
“Our community loves animals; that’s a big part of it,” Marsala said. “So many people come here because they know where their money is going, and so many people have been volunteering for years and came from the old store and they feel good about helping the animals in our community. One-hundred percent goes directly to the shelter and, last I heard, we’re supplying about 40% of the overall income or donations for the SPCA, so we are the largest source of income, and they divvy it up there, however they need to use it.”
Marsala said that Susquehanna SPCA’s thrift store, though under different names, began in the early 1980s.
“One-hundred percent of sales go to patient care and our families,” Finch said, noting that the Helios shop opened in May 2008, after the widow of a Helios client envisioned such a shop as a way “to give back because of the wonderful care she received.
“We’re a nonprofit organization, and 95% funded by Medicare, so we rely on our fund development to support operations, and the thrift store is just one of those initiatives,” she continued. “(It goes toward) the general fund to take care of patients and families, and that covers medications, labs, doctor visits, the normal hospice services.”
“It’s the mission behind it,” Christiance echoed, saying that Super Heroes’ thrift shop opened in 2019 and funnels 100% of profits to its parent agency. “We all love animals, that’s why we’re there. I was born and raised here (in Oneonta), and it’s something we do really need. Even though we have the Susquehanna SPCA and Delaware Valley, there’s such demand everywhere and people still don’t know about us that should. We really need the donations … so that’s why we’re there, to keep it going.”
New Leash on Life is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, with donations accepted during open hours on Tuesday and Saturday. For more information, including sale and event announcements, find “Susquehanna SPCA Thrift Shop” on Facebook. Also, call the store at 607-547-9462.
Super Heroes Humane Society Thrift Shop & Boutique is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, though Christiance recommended shoppers call ahead at 607-432-3333 or message “Super Heroes Humane Society Thrift Shop” on Facebook, as events and volunteer shortages can affect hours. Also, the agency has a “Plants and Pottery” sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., May 20, at the agency’s 160 Pony Farm storage site. Donations for that are welcomed from noon to 2 p.m., May 7 and 13 and 16.
The Helios Care Thrift Shop is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call the shop at 607-432-5335 or Finch at 607-432-6773. Also, visit helioscare.org.