When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.
It's a jest, but it's true, at least in this sense: When the economic going gets tough, the tough go shopping at thrift stores.
Millions of people have less to spend, so they spend more where goods cost less – at retail secondhand stores run by charities or for profit.
A downturn may mean an uptick for sales, but it can be a double-edged sword. Sales go high, but supplies go dry.
"Now that the economy is doing poorly, our stores are doing well," said Wendy Steinmetz, spokeswoman for the family-owned Thrift Town, a four-state chain with 15 stores, including three in Sacramento and Carmichael.
Some stores have been setting what Thrift Town dubs "world records." Their weekly sales have hit all-time highs.
Read the complete story at sacbee.com