While many people have been struggling in today’s economy, one type of company is doing terrifically well; and that’s second-hand stores. Second-hand stores have actually just had their best year ever, having reported an annual income of almost £1 billion, which is 33% more than last year.
Linda Archer, the manager of the British Red Cross charity shop in Kent, England said, “We’re getting customers that wouldn’t have looked at charity shops at one time. We’re getting more professional people that use charity shops that wouldn’t have done before. If people want evening wear or one-off items they will come in here rather than spend a lot of money that they haven’t got.”
While charity shops are booming with customers, they are ironically having a hard time with their supplies. While more people want to come and buy, less people feel ready to part with their own items.
As Linda Archer said, “We’ve had a set of cow horns, giant cow horns just recently that came from an opticians, you can never tell what’s going to come in, it’s like Christmas day every day.”