Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
They are a booming business here in Canada.
I started shopping in them 40 years ago and at that time hardly anyone else did. I had my pick of all the good stuff, LOL. Anyway since that time they have become quite mainstream and widespread. My kids used to complain about me bying things in thrift shops but now that they are grown up and have kids of their own they shop in them too.
They have the equivalent in Latin America. It is called "Ropa Americana"---American Clothes.
Agencies like Goodwill and Salvation Army reject huge amounts of clothing that is donated, which doesn't meet their standards. This stuff is bundled up with steel bands around it, and exported. Entrepreneurs buy it at shipboard, and transport a bundle to their shop, snip the bands out in the street, and let the customers have a free-for-all, charging a flat rate per piece dragged out of the pile, first come first served. Quite a shopping experience. I call it a "ropa war". I think an awful lot of it goes to Africa, too, where the huge majority of clothing sales are discarded American clothes. I've also seen it in the souqs in the Middle East, but a lot of that comes from Europe.
But in the third world, it's strictly clothng. I've never seen any used furniture or appliances, and none is generated locally either. People there don't discard durable goods until they are absolutely no use and cannot be repaired. If you need furniture or appliance, you pretty much have to buy it new, or by word of mouth from someone you know.
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
5,921 posts, read 13,785,023 times
Reputation: 5229
Plenty of such places all over the world.
At least in heavily populated areas ....
Most of the world has some kind of Charity Organisation.
Also, look for stores with a name that is equivalent to
*second hand store*.
That is where it all started ....
If, in a particular area, there is no such *store*,
there is usually a *sales drive* at regular intervals.
Same with *Flea Markets*
LBNL, *thrift stores* are NOT always connected to *Charity Stores*
Germany has them from traditional thrift stores....
Not very many though and not really in smaller towns, i.e. not comparable to the many thrift shops you see in basically any very small US or UK town. There is no Salvation Army (US) or Oxfam system in Germany. Mind you, they recently opened an Oxfam shop in our city.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.