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The ThriftSmart Story - The Solution: Business as Mission
With the concept of Business As Mission as their focus, during 2004, Dick and a partner, Tres Scheibe, founded ThriftSmart Stores, a retail thrift store concept to create jobs, serve the poor with an affordable shopping opportunity, and support local charities with 100% of the profits, while re-cycling gently used clothing and household items.
According to U’SAgain, a textile recycling company, “Services for reuse and recycling of textiles has not kept up with increased consumption. As much as 85% of clothes still end as landfill. For at least the past 25 years Americans have consumed more clothes every year than the year before…The increase in consumption can be attributed to for example the quickening changes in fashion, the advance of popular media such as magazines and music videos, and a growing disposable income.”
“The average American consumes 70 pounds of clothing and other textile products a year. Clothes you no longer use (or maybe never used) take up space in closets, drawers, and possibly even the trunk of your car.” While much of the recycled clothing is donated to thrift stores, “almost half (48 percent) of the clothes that are recovered are recycled as second hand clothing, which is typically sold to third world nations. It is through our efforts that the world’s poorest are clothed.”
“Secondhand clothing stores play an important role in American society. Students find bargains on vintage (read:trendy) and brand-name items. On the other hand, large families with growing children find buying secondhand the only way to keep every child well-clothed.” (U’SAgain website)
ThriftSmart plans to meet the needs of charities seeking sustainable long term revenue by replicating a proven business model with a low cost of entry for charities, taking the guess work and learning curve out of a typical new business venture.
Thrift stores are not a new concept; however, ThriftSmart is America’s first franchised thrift store, offering qualified charities the benefit of a proven operating model that leverages our experience for low cost start-up, economies of scale, efficient sourcing and processing of merchandise, a data enriched environment through advanced POS technology, and a customer-friendly culture that builds brand loyalty and brings the customer back to ThriftSmart.