We here in Northern Canuckland (and it actually appears to be a North American entity, I think) have a great little thrift store chain called Value Village. It runs along the same lines as Goodwill and other places like that. People drop off their unwanted goods and said goods are then sold to raise money for whichever charity the company supports. (Honestly, I’m not sure what those are, I suppose I could investigate more thoroughly but I’m not inclined to do so at the moment.)
Anyhoo. I never used to be a fan of thrift store shopping, and honestly, the idea was slightly repugnant. (Ick. People’s used stuff? No thanks.) But the time came when I was rapidly losing weight and I didn’t want to pay retail prices for clothing that I might end up only wearing for a short period of time. (The same went for when I put some weight back on, too.) That, and there were months that were leaner financially than others, which meant that I needed to be creative with spending.
Subsequently, this became a foray into thrift store shopping. And frankly, I kind of like the treasure-hunt appeal to it all. Because it’s like any other kind of second-hand shopping (yard sales, etc.) — you usually need to dig for a while before you hit the buried treasure. Today, I discovered that our store has a “handicrafts” section and I was able to get a pair of seemingly new knitting needles for cheap. I also picked up some t-shirts to be used for crafting purposes, and I found a kitchen fruit/veggie chopper thingy still in its original box. Pretty darned cool. There was a cool purse I spotted that still had its retail store tag attached to it, and was only $6, but I refrained. (Good of me, huh?)
I can understand, too, why some teenagers also dig thrifting. All sorts of brand name labels can be found for a fraction of retail price, if you dig hard enough. Aeropostale, American Eagle, Gap, Old Navy, you name it.
So does that mean everything is a gem? Nope, not in the least. That’s why it’s considered digging — because for every diamond you find, you’ve got to paw through dozens of chunks of rock. My only complaint is our one store is on the other side of town, a good 25-30-minute drive from home. Obviously I can’t justify running there on a regular basis, but when I do go, I usually have pretty good luck.
Do you have a hidden treasure near you?