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Strong Dollar Pulls The Rug Out From Under Some Secondhand Shops

Carrie Healy
/
NEPR
Unsold clothing from around Southern Vermont sits in bales in a Bellows Falls warehouse, ready to ship out. Lately, the cost of textiles has dropped from 16 and a half cents to two cents a pound, putting thrift shops in an economically difficult position.

The global trade of secondhand clothing is valued in the billions. Locally, clothes that don’t sell in thrift shops are often gathered up and offered for sale to consumers around the world. But as that market falls apart, secondhand shops are taking an unexpected financial hit.

When the Brattleboro, Vermont, thrift shop Experienced Goods changes its store window display every couple months, the staff sometimes hears back that the display provides pedestrians with a daydream moment. But, when the window changed in January, the thrift shop was surprised by the buzz they created by heaping — literally — a ton of donated clothes in their window.

To read more, check out the full story from NEPR.

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