Mt. Vernon Register-News

Local

August 7, 2009

Busy days for area consignment stores

By ROSALIND WALTERS

R-N Correspondent

MT.VERNON — Mt.Vernon area consignment and thrift stores have noticed a steady increase in business with the trend of money-saving measures taken by local shoppers.

Local thrift and consignment stores such as the Goodwill, Bargain Box, Designer Kids Consignment, and Twice as Nice grew in popularity among back to school shoppers.

“With the way money is right now we do have quite a few shoppers,” Amy Buttrum, manager of the Mt.Vernon Goodwill, said. “We have quite a few regulars. But since I’ve started working here, I’ve found some kind of thrill in going out and finding what kind of bargains I can get.”

Managing to keep prices consistent, Holly Hutton of Designer Kids Consignment reports that business is typically cyclic, however, the flow of back to school shopping and changing of seasonal goods helps to keep things coming in.

“Part of it is back to school; part of it is we take more fall items,” Hutton said. “People look forward to what they’re buying for the winter.”

The changing seasons and donations keep these local businesses flowing, according to Twice as Nice volunteer Hope Bialik.

“We get plenty of donations and everybody is so generous,” Bialik said. “We’ll have quite a few bags every day. It’s really nice that people are donating to us and it helps out people who don’t have the money.”

Despite the closing of the Mt.Vernon Salvation Army Thrift store in July, the other shops continue to do business as usual, according to Buttrum, enough to say that business is still excellent.

“The thing with our store is that we have really good donations, all the time,” Buttrum said. “That’s something that we don’t really have to worry about too much. When we’re low on things, we’re actually out of Evansville, so Evansville helps us keep our store stocked.”

From outside help to volunteers from the local community, businesses continue their daily paces. Both the Bargain Box, run by the St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Ladies Auxiliary, and Twice as Nice, run by Lutheran Children and Family Services, benefit from their staff of volunteers, and had no issues regarding the increase in minimum wage which was a factor in the closure of the Salvation Army.

“We’re like a thrift shop. It’s so cheap anyway that we wouldn’t have to downsize, plus we’re volunteers, so there’s no problem with the payments.” Kathleen Vullock, a volunteer of The Bargain Box, said.

As people turn to consignment and thrift stores as an alternative to paying department store prices, these local shops notice the influx of business. According to Hutton, shoppers may continue to find quality items for a low price.

“I’m very selective in what I take,” Hutton said. “I’m not a thrift store who accepts donations. We’re more particular in what we accept to sell. People like to come here because it’s organized and we have more upscale and more trendy items that people like.”

The Mt.Vernon consignment and thrift stores reported that even with the increase in demand, their prices have stayed consistent through the years. With more local shops receiving and selling for fractional costs, seasonal shopping for everyday goods continues to flourish, they said.

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