#NOT a Thrift Store
Somewhere along the way, the distinction between thrift, consignment, and vintage stores has blurred. Especially amongst younger folks. "Thrift" has somehow become a blanket term for all resale shops. When someone calls The Nitty Gritty a thrift, well, we don’t love it. It rather makes us a little crazy. I would like to set you all straight.
A couple of summers ago, a local magazine did a story called "Thrift Stores You Will Love!". Every store featured (including us) was either a consignment shop or a vintage store. Not one actual thrift store was mentioned. Here is how these types of shops are defined. (My definitions, of course.)
THRIFT: This is going to be a store full of donated items dedicated to some sort of charity. The only financial gain you would get by taking your unwanted items here would be to get a receipt so you can deduct it from your taxes. Goodwill, Salvation Army, and DAV are all common thrifts that are found across the country. They take anything, sell it cheap (Goodwill sells dresses for $8), and the proceeds support charities (although, I have learned recently of thrifts that are actually for profit.) They are typically vast, warehouse-sized stores that smell funny, are poorly lit, and are full of weird people. Not that I am dissing the thrifts: Terri and I are both thrifters from way back. Terri (the owner of The Nitty Gritty) started in the 1980s when you could still find really good old stuff. I didn't get into it until the mid-1990s or so. I still frequent a couple of good thrifts around town for basics - I REFUSE to pay high dollar for jeans when I can get them for $5 to $7 at a thrift store. LEVIS! CALVIN KLEIN!! Thankyouverymuch!! (You just wash them, duh)
CONSIGNMENT: These will only take newer items - usually no older than 2 or 3 years - and only things in really good condition. The store will take your garment, and once they sell it, you get a percentage of what they sell it for, they will keep the rest of the money, so this is a for-profit enterprise. If the item doesn't sell, you get zip. These shops are much more selective, sometimes only dealing in gently used designer clothing, or some other specialty. The benefit here is that you can get something that seems new but at a much-discounted price than what it was when it was new. But it may not necessarily be cheap. I have seen a newer Lilly Pulitzer at a local consignment store for less than $100 - as opposed to the $300+ price tag on a new Lilly.
VINTAGE: Items are considered "vintage" when they are 20-25 years or older (but I refuse to lump the '90s in, I have a hard enough time with the '80s.) A vintage store is going to be considered a "curated collection", meaning a carefully selected assemblage of items. A vintage store is also going to be selective, taking only items in good condition - which can be an issue when dealing with things that can be 40 to 80 years old. As opposed to the consignment model, we will just buy the items outright, since we normally are dealing with estates (people who've died or are going into a nursing home), most folks just want to be done with the deal. Unlike a thrift store, a vintage store is a for-profit deal. When people make some sort of comment on how high our prices are (which they are not, they are actually quite competitive in the vintage world), it is obvious that they are not familiar with vintage. At The Nitty Gritty, you are paying for our expertise, the curated nature of the items for sale, and our knowledge of these garments as a part of fashion history. And we smell good, take care to make the store look nice, and have good lighting. And weird people.
There is a great book called Wearing Vintage by Catherine Bardey that has a whole chapter on the various resale stores out there in the world...including some other types that I haven't covered here.
So go forth and shop. And no matter where you go, it's always better to support local businesses (YEAH!!)
