Renee Haines - The Garden Island
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Once upon a time, thrift stores were trendy for fashionistas who wanted to adopt a truly authentic vintage look on the cheap. Now they’re trendy again, this time as a way to help save the planet (and pocketbook, of course) by buying environmentally friendly recycled goods.

“We’re the ‘new’ new is what I say,” said Donna Pickard, manager of the Kaua‘i Humane Society Thrift Shop in Lihu‘e.

Kaua‘i boasts a surprisingly wide assortment of thrift and consignment stores, and several are redefining recycling.

At the Humane Society Thrift Shop, “our snow birds will come directly from the airport, buy and donate it back when they leave,” Pickard said.

The shop will regularly re-recycle its excess inventory by offering work clothes and other items to island agencies and organizations that serve the homeless.

“It just makes our ‘ohana bigger,” Pickard said.

At Wilcox Hospital Thrift Shop, island visitors also pick up clothes, wear them while they’re here and then “bring them back when they leave,” shop volunteer Vicki Thrift said.

Thrift? “You can’t make this stuff up,” she said about her last name.

Thrift copied a travel recycling tip from a friend that saves her money and baggage-lugging time.

“I went to the Holy Land, and everything I took was from several thrift shops, even my suitcase. And I left them behind when I left,” she said.

“It’s a way of re-using and giving back to a community when you leave it. It makes it full circle,” Thrift said.

There’s a circular kind of logic, too, at the Ho‘omana Thrift Store in Wailua, where money raised from thrift store sales funds family literacy projects.

Store saleswoman Loke Notebo said middle school students and sometimes adults come to the store as part of the project to learn life skills such as fixing furniture, mathematics and home decoration. They also earn “Ho‘omana money” to buy items in the store.

 “It’s like Monopoly money,” Notebo said. “They use it to go shopping for their family.”

The Kauai‘i Humane Society Thrift Shop uses its proceeds to support the local animal shelter, while Wilcox Hospital Thrift Shop uses its proceeds to buy hospital equipment ranging from wheelchairs to orthopedic tables.

“People want to support something. Even if they buy something for 50 cents, it helps,” the Humane Society’s Pickard said.

In this rough economy, saving money helps consumers and the thrift store industry.

The national Association of Resale Professionals reported this month that a survey among its members showed a 12.7 percent increase in net sales from 2008 to 2009, the latest year for which they have statistics. For the same period, the U.S. Department of Commerce was reporting retail sales were down 7.3 percent, the association reported.

Thrift stores also are copying retail trends, the association reported.

On Kaua‘i, the Wilcox and Humane Society stores recently renovated to produce wider aisles and more customer-friendly sections.

So what are people buying?

Clothes are big sellers, shop staff members said. Household goods are always popular, as are books. All three stores have special book sections. 

Vintage Hawaiian shirts and dresses are in abundance at the Ho‘omana store, as they are at the local Salvation Army store in Lihu‘e, which features special racks to show off their Aloha shirts.

The Humane Society store, not surprisingly, has a pet section in front for pet treats and a pet section in another room for pet mats and toys.

The Wilcox Hospital store already has a St. Patrick’s Day table set up, and the Humane Society store plans to show off baskets with the approach of Easter.

Thrift of the Wilcox store says customers can find great deals on Aloha shirts for usually less than $10. This store has a large children’s section with toys and clothes.

“One guy picked up a book for $1 that had a $40 price tag,” said volunteer Pat Burgess.

The Ho‘omana store has racks up front with new clothes with the tags still attached.

“Sometimes we get new things if a store closes and they donate it to us,” Notebo said. “Sometimes it’s a new article of clothing with a $45 tag. We make it $5.”

The Salvation Army store, the largest in Lihu‘e, has the most room for furniture. The Salvation Army also runs a smaller thrift store in Hanapepe.

The Ho‘omana store regularly has $1 sales, where customers who donate $1 to the literacy project then receive 50 percent off specified goods.

“We have bargains every day,” Notebo said, but she added that it’s also a friendly place. “Sometimes people just come in to talk story.”

The Humane Society’s Pickard said sometimes customers will find bargains at her shop to pack and mail to relatives.

The new competition is garage sales, Pickard said.

“We know that garage sales have stepped up, so we have a 75 cent clearance rank,” she said. Last week, keiki clothes were on sale for 50 cents each.

All three smaller stores have books up front in which customers can write down a description of what they’re looking for. If it shows up, the customers will receive a phone call.

One of Pickard’s regular customers is a baseball buff, so she calls him when a supply of baseball cards or other memorabilia arrives.

Pickard just likes to find bargains. She was a thrift store shopper years before she started working in one.

“I love unique art. The best deal I found was a vase. I got it for $5. A friend told me it was worth $200,” she said.

“It’s the hunt,” she said. “It’s exciting.”

Other thrift stores on the island include Christ Memorial Church’s Shared Blessings Thrift Shop in Kilauea, the Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore Thrift Shop in Hanapepe and Watever New and Used Thrift Store in Kapa‘a.