2 weeks Ago By Delaney Otto
RED LAKE FALLS, Minn. — Walking into Wright’s Consignment Store in Red Lake Falls is like stepping directly into an "I Spy" book. The 19,000-square-foot building has 22 rooms, each following a theme for the items within, from “garden” to “man cave.
” Owner Sheryl Adams believes it’s the largest consignment store in Minnesota. Her store, once five separate buildings, has been seeing an increase in customers, especially younger ones, Adams said. Nostalgia is a factor, but she’s also surprised to see young adults come in, seeking to purchase old items for their new lives.
“The number one way I sell an item that’s — I’ll call it vintage — is when someone walks up to it and goes, ‘grandma had this,’” Adams said. “These 20-year-olds that are coming in, in this age bracket, it’s unbelievable how they are just using their brain. They’re buying an entire household full of stuff here for $200.
” Adams came to the realization one day that she had been seeing an influx of younger customers, especially over the course of about the last year. New visitors say they’ll come back, and they usually do, with more customers in tow, she said. Some people make a full day of the trip.
There used to be a stigma around consignment stores, Adams said, but she believes that feeling is fading as people realize secondhand items still hold value. That growth is a trend that's happening nationwide. In a report gathered by Capital One Shopping Research, the U.
S. thrift and resale market has grown from $27 billion in 2020 to $43 billion in 2023, with estimated growth to $59 billion in 2025 and up to $73 billion by 2028. Resale, the report said, has grown by 550% since 2018, and traditional thrift and the donation industry has grown by 26.
3%. Compared to the general retail apparel sector, clothing resale grew 15 times as fast in 2023. Clothes are the most popular thrift item, the report said.
Walker Waage, store manager at Plato’s Closet in Grand Forks, said he’s seen growth in people buying used clothes — not just for the affordable prices but the environmental impact as well. It’s becoming a trend, he said. “I think people just understand that shopping new isn’t like it used to be,” he said.
“Now (secondhand shopping), it’s kind of the cool thing to do.” Waage believes big brands mass producing clothing may have led people to want unique pieces found at secondhand stores, instead of grabbing one of 40 of the same item on a shelf. A lot of selection at value prices, he said, is one of the biggest things drawing people to Plato’s Closet.
College students have especially been coming to the store, and employees have tried to make it organized and clean to make the shopping experience less chaotic for those unfamiliar with shopping secondhand. Some students might come in for a unique, cheaper item they might need for a special event, Waage said. Others are looking for a specific piece that would be more expensive to buy new.
Keeping clothes out of landfills and giving them more chances to be worn is part of the store’s mission, he said, even when it comes to fast fashion items. “We’d rather have us buy it and recycle it rather than people throw it in the landfill, because it takes so long for those to decompose,” he said. Sandra Fettig, an employee at St.
Joseph’s Social Care and Thrift Store, said there are more people coming not only to the thrift store, but the organization's food pantry as well. Rising costs of groceries and other items are a factor, Fettig has heard from customers. She sees parents come to buy clothing for kids, as well as college students looking for their own clothes, especially items bearing UND branding.
“We are seeing a major increase (in customers), especially the students,” she said. “In the last year, just recently, we just kind of spiked.” Two customers, Annie Eppler and Megan Anderson Weisgram, were spending part of a recent Saturday at St.
Joseph’s and had their own reasons for visiting. “It’s fun,” Eppler said. “This is a staple.
It’s something that’s never going to go away. And they also support a lot of charity and local stuff that I do for a living. A lot of the people that I work for get their products here, and then a lot of the people that I work for donate their products here.
So, full circle.” Added Anderson Weisgram: “With the younger generation, upcycling has become a trend — sustainability and being able to give new life to old items. It’s become a thing, keeping the world healthier.
” Thrifting clothes is something that could further grow in popularity in North Dakota, depending on the success of House Bill 1428. The measure aims to make clothing sold by thrift stores owned and operated by 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations exempt from sales tax. Introduced by Rep.
Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks, the bill has been amended by the Senate to specify what counts as clothing. It has returned to the House. “Over the last few years, inflation has taken its toll on North Dakotans, especially our seniors on a fixed income and our populations with lower incomes,” Vetter said in written testimony supporting the bill.
“This bill helps them with one of the basic necessities of life, clothing.” Jeff Anderson, executive director of The Arc of Cass County, wrote testimony in favor of the bill and also spoke to the role thrift stores play in a community. “Thrift stores enable easy purchasing of second-hand clothing, thereby reducing textile waste from landfills and delighting our customers by allowing them to save money by purchasing used items,” he wrote.
“A sales tax exemption would further incentivize this behavior, benefiting both our landfills and our communities.” Though clothes are the most commonly sought item, others go to thrift stores for specific pieces other places don’t have. Faith Rutland, who was visiting Wright’s Consignment Store on a day earlier this spring, said she’s gotten a few model cars from the store.
“I just like them here because they’ve got good prices on mostly everything,” she said. Adams said she likes to stock collections, like the model car collection Rutland was looking at, and an Elvis Presley merchandise collection that quickly sold about half its pieces. Sometimes, items that sell even surprise her.
For example: She can't stock enough lefse grills on her shelves. “All of that is coming back, like the krumkake,” she said..
