Leaving Room for the Little Guy

Facilitating access of low-income and homeless people to resources for subsistence and entrepreneurship-

Thrift store pricing and waste stream management-
Lately, here in Eugene, prices in the thrift stores have become a serious barrier for people trying to step up out of the lowest levels of poverty. Clothes and household items often cost the same or more than they would purchased new at Walmart. For those of us who can't afford Walmart, this is a big problem. There are far fewer places to find used clothing by the pound, and fabric and craft materials are increasingly being diverted into charity projects and out of the hands of budding business people. There is also the strange fact that Eugene area thrift store prices are higher than their equivalents in other places in Oregon, not universally but notably.

The reasons for the price increases are easy enough to understand. Charities that operate thrift stores are seeing big increases in demand for their sevices, and one good way to get funding for those services is to sell stuff at higher prices. There is also a large new market for upscale thrift. Many middle income people are feeling the crunch of the down economy and shopping at thrift stores because they need to down-size their shopping habits, and choose not to shop at big box stores. Thrift stores that provide a comfortable environment for middle class distressed shoppers tend to prosper. Also, the employees doing the pricing often have no idea what appropriate prices are for the myriad different goods they are pricing.

So, given these factors, how do we leave room for the little guy? How do we make sure poor families can still get what they need from thrift stores, crafters and others can have access to the waste stream to bootstrap their way into business, and thrift stores can enhance the prosperity of the entire community?

1. Separate vintage and designer goods from the rest of the stream and sell those at market prices to maintain funding needs of charities.Further separate out distressed vintage and designer goods to sell at reduced prices for refurbishers and repurposers.Collect vintage and antique items out of the stream made in specific countries, especially from the U.S. Offer these online. Make vintage and antique stuff Made in U.S.A the primary focus, and have sidelines with international and historical themes depending on where the items came from.
2. Sell normal clothes and household items at reasonable prices determined by periodic price surveys of area retailers or others TBD. Normal stuff at thrift stores should never cost more than it would at Walmart. Most of the time it should be less.
3. Before sending clothing, linens and fabrics off to other countries, offer them and whatever else makes sense in an "as is" store environment with rock bottom and by the pound prices, so struggling poor and bootstrap businesses have access to their means of subsistence.
4. When recycling of donated materials is done in-house, process the goods in such a way that they become raw materials for new goods. It's great if these raw materials become the foundation of new in-house fund raising projects, but also maintain access to local crafters through appropriate pricing, education and availability within the stores.
5. Contract with local organisations and educators to provide crafting and other healthy thrifty living classes and tutorial materials at thrift stores.
6. Establish in store and online" store fronts" (display areas) on etsy, ebay and sell stuff on craigslist and any other relevant popular sites to sell craft materials recovered from the waste stream and art made from repurposed materials such as handmade quilts and artist and crafter created instructions and furniture etc. (check out Etsy and Novica to get some good ideas of the possibilities)

Examples of #4

1. Cut the fronts off logo t-shirts for quilt blocks. Sell in bundles.
2. Spiral cut remainder of t-shirts to make yarn, shred to make stuffing and sell as craft materials
3. Market worn and damaged blankets as quilt batting
4. Sell damaged denim clothing as craft material
5. Make glass tiles specifically sized for mosaic work and stained glass effects
6. Make anything at all out of waste window glass (architectural brick?)
7. Create a real version of the pseudomythical bottle brick, a food or beverage container designed to also be used as a building material and thermal mass system.