More consumers are turning to buying used instead of new—and here are the top 30 cities for thrifting.
Used is the new new.
The secondhand merchandise industry is expanding as more consumers, concerned about both cost and wastefulness, turn to buying used instead of new.
The U.S. secondhand market is coming into its own and expected to more than double by 2026, reaching $82 billion, according to a report by thredUP (TDUP) – Get Free Report, an online resale marketplace.
As inflation puts pressure on consumers’ wallets, and the negative environmental impacts of fast fashion become more apparent, shoppers made secondhand clothing purchases in 2021 that displaced nearly 1 billion new-item buys, thredUP says.
Winmark, (WINA) – Get Free Report the franchiser of resale stores including Plato’s Closet, Play It Again Sports, and Music Go Around, had about 1,293 franchises in operation in 2022, with sales of $1 billion or more a year since 2015. They have recycled nearly 1.5 billion items since 2010, according to the National Association of Resale Professionals.
Other facts from thredUP’s report include:
74% of consumers have shopped or are open to shopping secondhand apparelCleaning out their closets in the pandemic, 57% of consumers resold apparel in 202162% of Gen Z and millennials say they look for an item secondhand before purchasing it new, and 46% consider the resale value of an apparel item before purchasing.
Across the nation, southern states make up the region with the most first-time thirfters, while in the Midwest residents are most likely to consider themselves thrifters. Northeastern shoppers are the most tech-savvy, and thrifters in western states are most conscious of their carbon footprint, thredUP says.
There’s no shortage of online resale sites like eBay (EBAY) – Get Free Report, Etsy (ETSY) – Get Free Report, Poshmark (POSH) – Get Free Report, thredUP, Facebook Marketplace, Depop and Mercari, but when you’re into pre-loved items, digging around a shop for rare finds is half the fun. There are around 25,000 thrift stores in the U.S., according to the National Association of Resale Professionals. Goodwill industries has 4,245 thrift stores across the nation, and Salvation Army has nearly 8,000.
To find the metro areas where vintage lovers can have the best thrifting experience, StorageCafe, an online platform that provides storage unit listings across the nation, analyzed data from the 50 largest metro areas and ranked them based on a weighted score that included the number of thrifting venues per 100,000 people, the percentage of big thrifting venues, thrifting sales per household, thrifting Google searches, and self storage inventory.
Thrifting venues include thrift shops, consignment stores, antique shops, used clothing stores, used furniture stores, flea markets, used bookstores and others.
While the New York metro area comes in first for the sheer number of resale venues with nearly 700 stores, it doesn’t make the top 30. Denver, with more than 190 resale stores, the most per capita, tops the list of best places for thrifters, with popular stores like Thrift Cult and a large Goodwill presence.
Based on StorageCafe’s analysis, these are the best metro areas in the U.S. for resale shopping.
1. Denver
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 7Share of big resale stores: 31%Thrifting sales per household: $192
2. Seattle
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 7Share of big resale stores: 22%Thrifting sales per household: $221
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3. Portland, Ore.
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 7Share of big resale stores: 23%Thrifting sales per household: $213
4. Austin, Texas
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 30%Thrifting sales per household: $231
5. Indianapolis
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 7Share of big resale stores: 35%Thrifting sales per household: $188
6. Minneapolis-St. Paul
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 29%Thrifting sales per household: $191
7. Columbus, Ohio
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 26%Thrifting sales per household: $266
8. Phoenix
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 5Share of big resale stores: 40%Thrifting sales per household: $210
9. Richmond, Va.
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 7Share of big resale stores: 18%Thrifting sales per household: $155
10. Oklahoma City
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 7Share of big resale stores: 22%Thrifting sales per household: $147
11. Louisville, Ky.
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 8Share of big resale stores: 21%Thrifting sales per household: $147
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12. Virginia Beach, Va.
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 7Share of big resale stores: 21%Thrifting sales per household: $127
13. Nashville, Tenn.
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 26%Thrifting sales per household: $153
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14. San Francisco
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 12%Thrifting sales per household: $181
15. Atlanta, Ga.
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 5Share of big resale stores: 26%Thrifting sales per household: $159
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16. Birmingham, Ala.
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 17%Thrifting sales per household: $169
17. Charlotte, N.C.
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 23%Thrifting sales per household: $130
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18. Tampa – St. Petersburg, Fla.
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 8%Thrifting sales per household: $103
19. Orlando
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 5Share of big resale stores: 14%Thrifting sales per household: $141
20. Kansas City
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 5Share of big resale stores: 27%Thrifting sales per household: $131
21. Chicago
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 5Share of big resale stores: 22%Thrifting sales per household: $163
22. St. Louis
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 25%Thrifting sales per household: $115
23. Dallas
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 4Share of big resale stores: 21%Thrifting sales per household: $175
24. Jacksonville, Fla.
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 7Share of big resale stores: 10%Thrifting sales per household: $99
25. Milwaukee
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 5Share of big resale stores: 37%Thrifting sales per household: $159
26. Cincinnati
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 26%Thrifting sales per household: $138
27. Pittsburgh
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 6Share of big resale stores: 21%Thrifting sales per household: $95
28. San Antonio, Texas
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 5Share of big resale stores: 14%Thrifting sales per household: $158
29. Houston
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 4Share of big resale stores: 31%Thrifting sales per household: $141
30. Miami
Resale stores per 100,000 people: 5Share of big resale stores: 18%Thrifting sales per household: $149
See the full ranking of all 50 cities at StorageCafe.com.
