National Thrift Store Day Is This Friday

If you haven\'t been to your local thrift store in a while, perhaps this Friday would be a good time for a visit. That because August 17 has been designated as National Thrift Store Day.

According to The Association of Resale Professionals -- via the U.S. Census Bureau -- there are currently more than 25,000 resale, consignment and not-for-profit resale shops in the United States.

First Research estimates the resale industry in the U.S. to have annual revenues of approximately $17 billion including revenue from antique stores which are 13% of their statistics.

Goodwill Industries alone generated $5.37 billion in retail sales from more than 2,000 not-for-profit resale stores and online sales in 2014.

According to America\'s Research Group, a consumer research firm, about 16 - 18% of Americans will shop at a thrift store during a given year.

For consignment/resale shops, it\'s about 12 - 15%.

To keep these figures in perspective, consider that during the same time frame; 11.4% of Americans shop in factory outlet malls, 19.6% in apparel stores and 21.3% in major department stores.