Nonprofit Thrift Shops Thrive in Tough Times

Posted by Fundraising Pro on June 5, 2009

Many Christian fund-raising groups and other nonprofits run thrift stores as a way to generate income to serve their communities and causes. St. Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army, Goodwill and the Hospice Shops are known nationwide but in every town various churches, hospitals, symphonies and animal protection groups run small thrift stores.

The current economic climate is good news for these charitable businesses. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. It’s a jest, but it’s true, at least in this sense: When the economic going gets tough, the tough go shopping at thrift stores.

Millions of people have less to spend, so they spend more where goods cost less – at retail secondhand stores run by charities or for profit.
“Now that the economy is doing poorly, our stores are doing well,” Wendy Steinmetz, spokeswoman for the family-owned Thrift Town, a four-state chain with 15 stores, said in a recent newspaper article.

Some stores have been setting what Thrift Town dubs “world records.” Their weekly sales have hit all-time highs.
Similarly, sales in the Salvation Army’s thrift stores in are up from over a year ago, said Dawn Marks, a regional spokeswoman.
“Our clothing sales, our necessities sales, are up,” she said.

While thrift shops provide a wonderful service to the community by offering everyone a way to shop for very little money, a way to recycle and a way to raise money for good causes, they are very labor-intensive.

Thrift shops require many volunteer hours to sort and price donations and mind the store. Overheads can be huge too, if rent has to be paid on the store space and if a commercial truck is needed to pick up donations. And there are utility and insurance bills to pay.
Selling the Samaritan Card, a wallet-sized discount card, might be a much better fit for your nonprofit organization.