The History and Ministry of Thrift Stores

Originally printed in the June 2025 issue

This is the first in a series of articles highlighting thrift stores in the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau.

Thrift stores are a relatively new invention in the history of human societies. The reason is simple, historian Susan Strasser in her book Waste & Want explains, “until the second half of the twentieth century, the great majority of people even in the most developed countries could not afford to discard clothes or household furnishings until they were worn out.” Over the last 100 years, however, this has changed. With the dawn of mass production and the concentration of the population in city centers, two facts of modern life collided: more people had more stuff and there was less space to store it. Enter the thrift store.

There are other elements, though, that help to account for the success of this business model that depends on the donations of others for its entire stock of inventory. For one, throwing away things can be emotionally painful. This was something journalist Adam Minter discovered while researching his book, Secondhand. In Japan, Minter found, there is a term that evokes this sentiment, mottainai, a word “that expresses a sense of regret over waste.”

Another element, even more engrained within the human psyche, is concern for others. The desire to care for the poor dates to ancient times. In our own Judeo-Christian tradition, Moses urges the people before they enter into the Promised Land, “Since there will never cease to be some need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land’” (Deuteronomy 15:11). The first thrift stores were operated by two Protestant organizations, the Salvation Army (founded in 1865) and Goodwill Industries (founded in 1902). Wanting to lend material assistance to those in need, while also providing work to respect human dignity, both organizations employed poor men and women in collecting cast-off clothing and household items, which they would then repair or refurbish to sell at secondhand shops for nominal prices where the poor themselves were the customers.

The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul opened the first Catholic thrift store in 1911 in Philadelphia. Unlike the Salvation Army and Goodwill, Saint Vincent de Paul did not emphasize the thrift store as a means to employ the poor, but rather as a way those with excess could provide for those in need.

Quite by accident these charitable organizations discovered that beyond providing goods at low prices for those in need, the thrift store itself was a reliable source of income to support their good works. Minter reports that in 2017 “American thrift trade … generated at least $17.5 billion in revenue.” Thrift stores today cater to a broad array of people from those who are intent on reducing their environmental impact, to bargain hunters who are looking to make a profit by selling the treasures they find to collectors, to those who embrace thrifting as a hobby. No matter the reason that prompts a shopper to enter a thrift store, the profits allow organizations like St. Vincent de Paul to carry out the charitable work at the heart of their mission.

The Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau is home to several Catholic thrift stores, each with a unique mission and aim, a particular clientele, and a band of volunteers and employees to keep it running. Over the next few months, join us as we explore these establishments and discover the numerous ways they are contributing to their local communities while also are responding to our human desires to reduce waste and to provide for the needs of others.