Looking for a bargain? Then try thrift shops

McALLEN - Joyce Champion scrutinized the tightly-packed racks of second-hand clothes on a recent afternoon, hoping to spot a one-of-a-kind birthday present.

Champion, a McAllen schoolteacher, is an old hand at the shop - like some of the clothing. Of course the bargains are a draw, but for Champion it's the novelty that lures her to the racks of The Clozet at 2217 N. 10th Street.

"I'm a teacher - hello?" Champion said rhetorically about the necessity of finding bargains on an educator's salary. "I come here because of the unique ... and it's kind of therapeutic."

For the store's other new and thrifty customers, it's the discounts that draw them.

Retail sales are slumping, but for some area consignment stores, it's a boom year. With cheaper clothes, house wares and a hodgepodge of other goods, consumers seem to be rediscovering the adage of finding treasure in other's trash.

Owner Edna Sosa said in recent months she's seen a flurry of new customers. Yet, like the big-box retailers, she's had to make deep discounts to help the business stay strong.

"I'm constantly doing things, like giving away this or that," she said. "You've got to lose to win. Plus you've got to be really careful with the spending."

At Our Secret Upscale Resale recently, a mostly older crowd browsed a mélange of women's clothing, antique furniture, artwork and even a small pastiche of men's wear.

The store retains a list of 2,000 occasional consignment sellers and that's been a constant, owner Teresa Hinojosa said. So too have sales, despite the economic downturn. Still, she echoed Sosa's concerns about the need to discount.

"Brand new stores are coming in and they've got these sales going on constantly," Hinojosa said. "We've got to compete with that as well.
We've had to do the same."

Retailers are discounting just about everything, and if the numbers are right, it's not working that well.

U.S. retail sales dropped by 8.5 percent in November from the previous year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department - after having the largest one-month decline on record in October.

Rio Grande Valley sales have been falling for months. Mexican shoppers, who annually spend millions of dollars in the region, are now crossing the border less and U.S. shoppers have reined in spending as the world's economy tumbled.

Georgia Flores, owner of Georgia's Thrift Shop, has felt the sting stronger than most. She estimates her sales have fallen 50 percent since last year on her merchandise - some of which is consignment but mostly it's owned by her. She doesn't sell clothing.

Perhaps it's the store's rather hidden location at 1104 Upas Ave., a residential street just off South 10th. She painted the building lime green with pink trim earlier this year to catch the eye of the occasional passerby, but that didn't seem to work.

"It's so slow I had to get a partner to help pay the bills," she said, standing near a rack with a small selection of old comic books. "I try not to use the air conditioning ... just trying to survive."

Now she's mulling whether to give up or move to a different location.

At the nearby Potter's Consignment and More, 1005 Vine Ave., Alvin Potter said he attributes the dramatic rise in sales to the economy, of course, and to a cable news report that said consignment shops were the "it" thing in bad times.

The day after the story, he had a flurry of new customers.

"A lot of people come in to sell," Potter, the father of the store's owner, said as he stood behind a glass case filled with jewelry and other
trinkets. "Things are tough ... it's the stuff they don't need."