Self-Sufficiency > Frugality > Thrift Stores -------------------------------------------- [16 APR 2019] # Memories then and now As a child, I recall visiting antique stores and garage sales frequently, with my mother. The concept of money was too vague for me then, but I was enamored of the vast array of miscellany that humans collected. As a youth I discovered thrift stores, and the bric-a-brac that still fascinated me now became a treasure trove of possibilities that even my limited teen budget could explore. To make it even better, my interest in computing coincided with a torrential upgrade cycle that filled the thrift stores to overflowing with computer hardware. It was an exceptional time. Now, as an adult, I view thrift stores in a slightly different light. I'd like to explore the function and form of thrift stores by breaking them down into two categories, then examining a few thoughts on thrift stores in general. ## Big-city, Prosperous Thrift Stores I suggest and assert that large populous centers are hives of consumerism, designed to create a cycle of labor and commerce. For a long time, these populous centers produced enormous amounts of waste, up to and through Time Magazine's 1955 "Throwaway Living" society, and well into the 1980's. Then something changed, an society shifted gears toward today's recycle-centric modes. The result, in our time, is a host of well-known, well- marketed chain thrift stores that are found in and around large city centers. The need to keep waste out of landfills is a tribute to society's engagement with frugality. The cynic might also say that enterprising capitalists saw a means for producing more wealth, by creating jobs for those who may be difficult to employ (in the case of Goodwill,) and creating product for those with limited means. The wheel keeps churning, spending is increased, and a badge of civic responsibility is earned. Politics aside, the thrift stores in every large city I've visited (and I make a point to visit thrift stores when I travel for personal or work reasons) are filled to the brim with clean, usable wares. They often carry new clothing donated by corporations (styles that did poorly, or overflow from stock-related issues.) ## Rural, Poor Thrift Stores A friend, years ago, planted the following seed in my mind relating to thrift stores. As best I can recall, they said something like this: ", you really shouldn't shop at thrift stores. When people who can afford to shop at a regular store choose to go to the thrift store instead, they're taking away from the people who can't afford the regular stores. Just think what would happen if everyone shopped at thrift stores: there wouldn't be anything donated, and the shelves would be empty." Intellectually I agreed, but my actual experience told me that there was *so much consumerism* in the places I lived that the thrift stores would *never* be short on supplies. Then I moved to rural America. My first move to rural America was still on the west coast, and still in a somewhat affluent town. Even so, it was outside the reach of the major players in thrift (Goodwill and Savers.) We had a few small-town thrift shops, locally owned, with ties to local charities (such as the local branch of the Humane society.) Their wares were donated by the locals, and were therefore much, much more limited in quantity.