In a tough economy, old stigmas fall away

[marmar]

PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) — The Goodwill store in this middle-class New York suburb is buzzing on a recent weekend afternoon. A steady flow of shoppers comb through racks filled with second-hand clothes, shoes, blankets and dishes.

A few years ago, opening a Goodwill store here wouldn't have made sense. Paramus is one of the biggest ZIP codes in the country for retail sales. Shoppers have their pick of hundreds of respected names like Macy's and Lord &Taylor along this busy highway strip.

But in the wake of the Great Recession, the stigma attached to certain consumer behavior has fallen away. What some people once thought of as lowbrow, they now accept - even consider a frugal badge of honor.

And it's not just about Goodwill. Americans, even those with jobs, are shopping for brands, buying at stores and eating at restaurants that they shunned before because they are trying to get more for their money. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.comcast.net/articles/finance/20101108/US.Consumer.Chill.Stigmas/

[Warpy]

1. Thanks for reminding me

I need to make a donation run ASAP. I no longer shop there because I no longer need to, but I am deeply grateful they were there when I did. I will always donate carloads of stuff whenever I can and I'll donate money directly when I am finally rid of all the stuff that seems to breed in the backs of the closets.

[murielm99]

2. Sometimes I shop the resale shops because it is

getting harder to find good quality clothing. For example, I have not been able to find warm winter slacks for the last couple of years. All the cheap made in China crap is too thin for our winters. The resale shops have wool pants and coats.

[Warpy]

7. Agreed, the stuff in the stores around here is woeful

I make my own sweaters, and jeans do just fine for me. I'm left with shopping for outerwear and underwear these days.

The thrift shop gaveth and the thrift shop taketh away.

[renate]

4. I love taking stuff to our local homeless shelter

They're always really happy to receive appropriate donations. (Someone once tried to donate a canoe. A canoe. If you were homeless, would you want to have to deal with a canoe? A canoe would just be a pain in the ass.) That's where I like to take our stuff, especially our nicer stuff. I figure that if a person is homeless it might feel pretty good to wear a nice warm non-acrylic sweater or a pair of shoes in good condition.

And again, homeless shelters probably all do things differently, but ours sends the stuff they don't use to St. Vincent de Paul, and my mom, who does volunteer work with victims of domestic violence, says that St. Vincent de Paul is absolutely wonderful about helping people without being preachy, so although I'm normally not a fan of organized religion, it's cool with me for them to get any of our stuff that the homeless shelter can't use.

This article is about stigmas, though--am I weird to have never felt any stigma about shopping at Goodwill? I've occasionally felt guilty about snapping up something really awesome for just a few bucks, as if I were taking it out of the hands of someone more deserving... but the money goes to a good cause, and it's not like I snatched the clothes out of someone's hands. It's never crossed my mind to feel anything but "BOOYAH!" when I shop there and find good stuff for a good price. :shrug:

[Warpy]

6. I had no choice. I HAD to shop there

which is why I prickle at the thought of possibly taking something away from someone who needs it now. The charity is getting your money when you shop there, so have a blast looking for that designer steal.

[TBF]

10. We shopped at Goodwill when I was a kid -

my mom made the same comments about nicer quality gently used clothing (books too!). Now that I'm an adult with decent income I will sell my kid's nicer clothes on eBay if I have time. Everything else goes to Goodwill and Salvation Army. I've been known to buy on eBay as well :)

[dkf]

3. Talk about deflation...

[tavalon]

5. I haven't bought new in ages

I enjoy the treasure hunt and now that I've been spoiled by the prices, I look at prices in retail stores and scoff. There is no way I'm paying more than $5 for a shirt or $10 for a nice pair of jeans. And all of my work scrubs have been thrift store finds. I have the coolest scrubs around (NICU cuties).

[LiberalEsto]

8. I see a lot of middle class types at dollar stores

Also at Big Lots and discount clothing stores like Ross. I live in Montgomery County, Maryland, which has long had a reputation for intense snobbishness, but in the past few years, things have changed,
Sure, there are still a lot of upper-crust types tooling around in their Jaguars thinking their shit doesn't stink, but fortunately they mostly stay out of the lower-income parts of MoCo. But plenty of people who five years ago wouldn't have been caught dead at a dollar store are now shopping at them.

[Dappleganger]

9. we HATE this...

fucking people make it so there's nothing left for the rest of us who normally use this to clothe our kids.