Side-Hustlers And Bargain Hunters Hit Up North Texas Thrift Stores For Deals
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Getting the best deal can mean getting physical at some local thrift stores. CBS11 visited two of the busiest locations to meet side hustlers and bargain hunters.
The first: Family Thrift Outlet on Ephriham Avenue in Fort Worth. Dozens of people patiently wait Thursday morning for a number. Just before 7am, they line up in order and race inside, grabbing shopping carts and racing through the racks.
Area manager Violet Martin says this is how every Thursday morning starts. "They're crazy and wonderful at the same time." The low price is the big draw: everything is just $2. It's chaos for the first several minutes as shoppers work their way through the store.
Samantha Buller is one of the regulars. "I come here every Thursday," she said. "I run a small business on Instagram with secondhand clothes." The money she makes from her @CreativelyThrifted account helps pay the bills and, she says, helps serve a greater purpose. "It's sustainable and it gives clothes a second chance, so I really enjoy it."
A lot of the people racing through the racks on Thursdays are resellers like Buller. Martin says after the initial rush, the "regular" bargain hunters come to shop. Every day for the next week the prices drop, until finally everything is just $0.25.
"It's perfect for single mothers to buy children's clothes," said Martin. "It's [for] men in construction, they don't want to spend a lot of money."
Whatever doesn't sell by Wednesday is removed. The store restocks for Thursday and the process starts all over again.
THE GOODWILL "BINS"
Another day, another line, this time outside the Goodwill Outlet near I-20 and Campus Drive in Fort Worth.
Inside, the non-profit has built a system to quickly offload donations that didn't sell at its regular stores. Everything - clothing, shoes, books, household goods - is put into rolling blue tables (also called "bins") and sold by the pound.
"Everything on the store floor is $1.69 a pound," said Beth Reneau, the Director of Donated Goods. "Anything that weighs more than seven pounds is a flat $7."
The outlet is considered the last stop for donations. After that, the leftovers are sold as salvage, recycled, or thrown away. Reneau says last year Goodwill managed to divert 90% of its donations from the landfill.
Tables are rotated every 20 to 30 minutes. Shoppers are not allowed to pick from the new tables until workers give the signal. "Once that row is locked into place we just say 'go' and our customers start to shop," said Reneau. "It can be a madhouse sometimes but they're finding great things!"
Tuan Nguyen knows the drill. He's at the outlet five hours a day, seven days a week. "You have to dive in and scramble and you have a very limited time because everybody's trying to get it, too."
He says he's found a little of everything here. "You have clothing, you have electronics, toys, purses, shoes... cameras, bags of jewelry." When we met him he was carrying off a microwave.
Reneau says their goal is to put out 320 tables a day. That's 320 chances for you to find a deal. Her advice? "Be prepared. Be prepared to dig."
