Repair Shops and Second Hand Stores Thriving in Recession

by Karenke4 | January 12, 2009 at 11:07 am

1008 views | 9 Recommendations | 8 comments

Rather than buying new shoes this year, why not head to your local cobbler?

Early research indicates that more Americans are spending their money fixing perfectly good products they already own, and buying perfectly good products some one else didn't need. This is great news for second hand retailers, and repair shops as well as for our landfills and wallets.

In the last few decades, repair and thrift shops have suffered from a 'use and toss' mentality. In a recession though, Americans are re-learning what it means to be frugal. DIY projects, yard sales and flea market fashions are becoming as common Gap and Home Depot. Americans are discovering what it takes to save money, and their community in the process.

Some early signs of growth:

•Sales increased year-over-year this fall at 74 percent of secondhand stores surveyed by the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops (NARTS). Ninety percent of the stores saw an increase in new customers.

•Business is "booming" at the estimated 7,000 shoe repair shops in the US, according to John McLoughlin, president of the Shoe Service Institute of America. "At some shops, you have to wait three or four weeks, which ordinarily is just unheard-of," he says.

•Shops around California's Bay Area – from vacuum, bicycle, and watch repair to cobblers and secondhand clothing stores – report sales growing or holding firm in one of the toughest times for retailers in recent memory.

In past years this heightened sense of frugality is something we chuckled at when our grandparents told us stories about “when we were kids...” Or else it was something associated with new-age hippies who chose communal living over 'the American Dream'. The majority of us have had the luxury of taking for granted what was scrimped and saved for by 'the greatest generation'.

Before the economic downturn started mainstreaming the reuse trend, the reuse market tended to attract people who saw it as conserving both their money and the planet's resources, says John Lastovicka, a frugality expert at Arizona State University in Tempe. People who voluntarily try to reuse items often view the effort as an enjoyable challenge, his research has found.

"Unfortunately, part of this is probably a lost art. The 'greatest generation' that lived through the Depression, this was part of their day-to-day behavior," says Professor Lastovicha. Far fewer people have carried on that tradition because it's time-consuming and can be something that people laugh at. "It can be a tough sell, unless you have to do it – which is what's happened."

Perhaps the art of frugality is not lost, but buried. If it is one thing humans are good at it is adapting to change, and if that means counting the change in their couches to fix the holes in their shoes, then that is what we will do.

Do you think we are up for the challenge?

More on NowPublic.com:

Fashion on a Budget: The Art of 'Recession Dressing'

Secondhand Stores Sparkle in Drab Retail Industry

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TristanWheelock

at 12:46 on January 12th, 2009

TristanWheelock has contributed a photo to this story.

sunilphoto

at 14:05 on January 12th, 2009

This is Duckers Shoe Store in Oxford, UK. Bob Avery (pictured) is an experienced shoemaker. His business had to diversfy into shoe repairs and outsourced retail in order to survive.
See full photo story in:
http://www.sunilphoto.com/section204502_138177.html

sunilphoto has contributed a photo to this story.

berrykrayon

at 15:10 on January 12th, 2009

berrykrayon has contributed a photo to this story.

ROIBoROI

at 18:55 on January 12th, 2009

this photo was taken last Saturday when i've to replace my bike punctured tyre. while waiting, i decided to take some photos of the mechanic doing his work and few thing inside the workshop.

ROIBoROI has contributed a photo to this story.

rafism

at 19:49 on January 12th, 2009

This picture was taken as a local cobbler was polishing someone's old shoe. Old shoe is something that we all cherish as it has been with us for a while in good times and bumpy rides. Its easy to get a new shoe and toss the old one, but then we toss out the artifact which carries precious memories, the moments we stepped through.
Also its wise to conserve and use the old things in this economic recession to help ourselves and the nation to catch up with the pace. You could say that this would be an unspoken responsibility, but something that comes from the moral inside.

rafism has contributed a photo to this story.

bluebeemerboy

at 04:24 on January 13th, 2009

I took these pictures during the repair process. This was after I recovered from the experience of learning that the replacement part was in the several hundred dollar range to fix a dryer that cost $400.

I try to fix everything that I own and have been doing so since I was little. For me it has nothing to do with the economy and everything to do with self reliance and a general desire to understand my world.

For ultimate frugality you might try and see if there is a FreeCycle user group in your city. These are Yahoo groups that are locally organized and everything must be given or taken completely free. No exchange of money is allowed. I've repaired a few different things with items that I've been given on that group. A PC that burned up a mother board, my snowblower that needs parts and I got a bread machine that I gave to a relative the next day for her birthday.

Bluebeemerboy

bluebeemerboy has contributed a photo to this story.

LotusFlower

at 08:00 on January 16th, 2009

"Make do and mend" was a favourite quote of my grandmother's that she carried with her from the frugal days of the second world war. She knew how to darn a sock and even painted the carpet when it became threadbare. Now we throw things away. Lets make 'make do and mend' the new thing!

campagnolociocc

at 11:15 on January 16th, 2009

Late 1970's early 1980's the mod movement from Great Britain gave rise in southern California. In order to pair up with the 60's fashions, Cali mods had to look to the thrift stores, now so favorably crowned "retro fashion", for 3 button suits, periwinkle shoes, and American army parkas. Amvets was one of many stops we made on our Lambretta scooters searching for the ideal gear (clothes).

campagnolociocc has contributed a photo to this story.