Why thrift still thrives
If it weren't for thrift stores, I never would have found my "Talk nerdy to me" T-shirt (which I only wear at home, of course) or my very own Oscar the Grouch "It's another grouchy day" T-shirt (which I only wear out).
And if it weren't for faith-based thrift stores, those second-hand shops run by various Christian ministries and scattered from one end of Canada to another, a lot of ministry in this country-and beyond-just wouldn't happen.
The words "faith-based thrift store" usually call to mind the ubiquitous "Sally-Annes" (Salvation Army Thrift Stores) across Canada. The Salvation Army's National Recycling operation runs between 120 and 130 thrift stores in urban centres, and local Salvation Army offices operate another 220 smaller stores. For more than 100 years these stores have been raising funds for the Christian charity that is today the largest non-governmental provider of social services in Canada.
Diane Van der Horden is director of public relations for The Salvation Army, Maritime Division. When discussing the role of the thrift store, she uses the term "national recycling operation."
Nowadays, that is an essential part of the identity of the thrift store for The Salvation Army. Yes, the stores raise millions of dollars for Salvation Army projects, but their website, materials and spokespeople also focus on the environmental impact those stores have by saving vases, bicycles, trombones, clothes-you name it-from landfill sites.
"The Salvation Army may have been one of the agencies involved with recycling before it became one of the buzzwords of our culture," says Diane. "The revenue is important, absolutely essential actually, but also the leadership The Salvation Army plays in diverting things from landfills. Local municipalities are amazed at the volume that The Salvation Army diverts." Nationally run stores alone rescue more than 50 million lbs of merchandise from disposal each year.
The Salvation Army has also gotten savvy at marketing. You can now buy gift cards for shopping at their stores. They also sell on EBay. Thrift store shopping has gone mainstream, which is good for business-and great for ministry.
Casey Langbroek of Chilliwack, B.C. is executive director of Bible for Mission (BFM) thrift stores, 31 in total in Canada. In 1989 they earned $17,000. "We thought we were doing great [then]," says Langbroek. When the 2007 profits are totaled, BFM expects sales in excess of $6 million, most of which is poured into the ministry of The Bible League which provides scriptures and trains evangelists around the world.
The League has a strategic plan in place with a goal of 30 more stores in the next five years and an active recruitment drive to find people to open them and volunteer in them. Shoppers are also wanted, of course. Langbroek says the profile of the thrift store shopper has evolved over the years. "They weren't what they are today," he says. "Back then [thrift stores] were to help poor people; today you could see a Cadillac or a Lexus in the parking lot."
Van der Horden says "there is not a typical thrift store shopper. There are folk from every walk of life who enjoy thrift store shopping."
That's one of the things Barbara Walkden, director of development for Toronto's Yonge Street Mission is counting on. The mission's thrift store is called Double Take and is downtown on the edge of fashionable and funky Cabbagetown. It bills itself as "one of Toronto's best used clothing stores." A lot of their donations tend to be high-end with a low average sale price of $1.95.
"The racks look like Winners," says Walkden. "We put out 500 new items each day."
With sales of just over $400,000 a year, profit for ministry is not the driving force, because the store is a ministry itself. "The employees come from Regent Park and most of them are new arrivals to Canada," says Walkden. Double Take offers them a job and training they probably could not get elsewhere.
"Most of the staff are here for a year to train in retail and then get a job downtown in the stores," she says. Clients of the Yonge Street Mission can receive gift certificates that they use to "shop with dignity" at the store. "The wonderful thing that absolutely delights me is that it's a school, it's training, and we're breaking even and hopefully with a little profit for the ministry."
At Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) thrift stores it's a lot of profit. In 2007 the 56 stores in Ontario and the West raised $5.4 million for MCC initiatives. MCC thrift shops, says Judy Dyck, MCC Canada's thrift store coordinator, "are generating probably the second highest source of revenue for domestic and international programs."
That's a lot of Norman Rockwell postcards, King Arthur figurines and plush Garfields sold-to name a few examples of the most recent acquisitions posted on MCC's clever website (http://mcc.org/thrift/). Savvy shoppers, says Dyck "know this is a great place to save money. We have a lot of one-of-a-kind items. The idea that thrift stores are for people that are 'down and out' is an idea of the past."
MCC is also getting more sophisticated in its marketing, tapping into the concern Canadians have for the environment. "We've moved that to the top of our agenda," says Dyck. "I think our niche is in finding secondary uses for items that are unsellable."
MCC's volunteer workforce craft blankets from old fabrics and pencil cases from worn out jeans. "We have a real branding program, a new logo and identity and a new initiative called Care for Creation," says Dyck. The program focuses on daily recycling and on buying used goods to reduce the carbon emissions associated with producing and transporting new goods.
The thrift store world is a "competitive marketplace" where good business practices matter, says Dyck. Where else can you a Prada purse for $2 and support ministry at the same time? It seems like a great deal for everyone.
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