In a league of their own are the independent thrift and junk stores.
In Mt. Airy, a small, foothill town that has struggled to survive after
the closure of its textile mills, there are at least six such stores.
Some specialize in used furniture and possible antiques - quilts and the
like. Penny and I visited two. Granny’s Goodys
(sic) had a homemade sign propped up out front against some kiddy
bicycles. The shop had a charming array of dolls on offer (dolls are
a popular collector’s item) but they were overpriced.
At Do Rags, a small shop across the road from the Re-Store, I spoke to
the young man who runs the place with his mother. He says they buy
clothes that people bring in, getting a markup of only a dollar or two on
each item. Business for him has been slow lately but he was cheerful
and helpful. The store had a row of gowns in the front window,
reminding me of my long-ago search for a prom dress.
Both Do-Rags and Granny’s Goodys have opened recently. I was
surprised that people have the money to go into business, but when you
think about it, the “trash and treasure trade” has the virtue of low
start-up costs. Many of us could just about open a shop with the
stuff in the garage.
Buying at thrift stores and reselling is a practice that has grown with
the widespread use of eBay. I search thrift shops for used books;
once, a $1.00 book purchase netted me a $35.00 resale on Amazon.com.
Certain brands of children’s clothing fetch a high price at resale.
Smart traders, some of them owners of junk stores, trawl thrift shops
looking for any “treasure” unknowingly being sold as “trash.”
Someone once told me he’d gotten a vase worth $700.00 for $2.00 at a yard
sale. It’s parasitic capitalism, with one product being recycled
many times, the price going lower and lower in the first part of the cycle
and gradually rising again. Old books become “collector’s items” and
clothing becomes “vintage” in just a few years.
Besides the “big box” thrift stores like Goodwill, Megathrift and
Salvation Army (the names may differ in different areas of America), and
the little junk joints and weekend yard sales, the best bargains of all
are undoubtedly Bag Day sales. My granddaughters and I went to a PTA
sponsored thrift store in Chapel Hill,
North Carolina, on Bag Day. The little girls didn’t like the crowds,
the pushing, the long lines. The reading area for kids’ books had
been taken over by a clot of selfish grownups elbowing in for advantage.
In my younger days I would have been the first one through the door on Bag
Day, when you pay $5.00 for as much booty as you can cram into a paper
grocery bag.
There is still a stigma attached to thrift shopping, even in these
“downturn days.” The goods are used, after all, and the stores are
sometimes in seedy neighborhoods, with poor lighting and dusty displays.
An acquaintance of mine sneaks to the thrift shop occasionally and if she
wears something used she will say, “I got it at Will’s good store,” a joke
in her family to cover the fact that one has been reduced to going to one
of those places.
For my part, I have shopped so long and so enthusiastically at “Will’s
good stores” that I now hate the scratchy feeling of new clothes, and
paying a price higher than $5.00 for a new dress fills me with guilt.
If I pay a rock-bottom price for something and get tired of it, I return
it to the thrift shop with no regrets, knowing that someone else can use
it and a worthwhile charity will be aided.
We should rejoice that, like my mother and me at prom time, we are now
“forced” to take the thrifty way and can enjoy the benefits: bargain
prices, a relaxed atmosphere, and a chance to help others by buying.
So, next time you pass by Will’s Good Store, turn in and have a look.
And don’t forget to donate to the thrift stores when you’re cleaning out
your garage.
