A couple of weeks back, my girlfriend came to visit me from
Canada. One of the activities we
did while she was here was to visit thrift stores. In Canada, she explained that all the thrift stores “smelled
yucky” and had no variety of anything worthwhile to look at much less
purchase. But, since my girlfriend
loves finding buried treasures and deals as much as I do, she was game to give
our stores a try.
We went from one thrift store to another, each clean and
offering a great selections of items to browse through. My girlfriend grew more and more
perplexed and impressed. I explained
that like the ones in Canada, our thrift stores used to be dismal places most
would avoid instead of choosing as fun destination points to hang out in. But all that changed a number of years
back when Goodwill and also The Salvation Army upped the bar for items they
would accept for donations.
In the past, one could donate just about anything in just about
any state of disrepair and be certain these companies, the largest two donation
centers, would accept them. But
the companies got smart, realizing the failing economy and the opportunity to provide
valuable slightly used items to consumers for unbelievable low prices. So they got picky with what items they
would accept, only choosing those they knew they could immediately put on their
showroom floors and that would sell quickly.
Until my girlfriend mentioned how dismal the thrift stores
in Canada were, I’d forgotten that ours had been the same not that many years
back. I’m glad things turned
around. That the donation centers
got selective with what caliber of items they’d accept so they could turn those
items into gems we shoppers would enjoy discovering. Sad that it took the fall of our economy for all this to
happen. But hey, a good thing is
still a good thing, no matter what’s its origin.
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