.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} A beige sofa and mannequins dressed in vintage clothing line the windows of Not New Shop, enticing shoppers to the new location in the George Washington Carver Community School. Inside are racks of neatly arranged clothes, ranging from sports jackets to winter coats and children’s apparel – even a wedding dress. Furniture, including a dining room table, a crib and an entertainment center, surrounds the clothing, along with shelving containing organized stacks of notepads, books and dishes.

The Iowa Lutheran Hospital thrift shop reopened in August, combining its clothing and furniture resale outlets into one space. Store manager Elizabeth Johnson prides herself on having a bright and clean store at all times, creating a more comfortable shopping experience. And it shows. Net revenues for Not New Shop have increased to more than $90,000 in 2006 from $45,000 in 2000.

Other resale stores have had similar experiences, as thrift and consignment shopping become more popular, and many create a more upscale shopping experience similar to a traditional retail store.

“The industry really in the last 15 years has changed a lot,” said Kathy Cox, who has been in the business for 15 years as owner of Fashion Junction, an upscale consignment store in Beaverdale. “Before people thought thrift stores were like the DAV (Disabled American Veterans thrift stores). Those have a great place, but it’s a different type of store entirely than an upscale consignment or resale store.”

In her 8,000-square-foot space at 2625 Beaver Ave., Cox sells clothes on the first level and furniture in the basement. “Everything is sized and on regular store hangers,” she said. “People come in and don’t realize it’s a consignment store because it doesn’t look like that.” She also sells cards and accessories that are not consignment items.

Cox has even put on style shows for businesses or groups to teach consumers what consignment is, and she said most of her customers are middle- to upper-income. “They like a good deal,” she said, “and they like to buy clothes for a smaller percentage than they pay in a retail store.”

As a result of these efforts, her sales have steadily increased over the past 15 years, she said.

While many mainstream retailers struggle to boost sales in a slowing economy, secondhand stores continue to expand. According to the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops, the industry is growing by about 5 percent each year, with more than 25,000 resale, consignment and thrift shops in the United States.

America’s Research Group found that about 16 to 18 percent of Americans shop at a thrift store in a given year and 12 to 15 percent in consignment/resale shops. This compares with 11.4 percent of Americans who shop at factory outlet malls and 21.3 percent in major department stores.

Cox believes thrift and consignment stores are becoming more popular for a variety of reasons, including trends toward recycling more and searching for more affordable items.

Viv Lainson has seen a growing interest in consignment at her upscale store, Repeat Boutique, 3913 Ingersoll Ave., in the year and a half it has been open. Even though she does no advertising, Lainson said, “the business is growing and I’m taking more quality items,” with customers coming from as far away as Waterloo.

But it’s not just the name-brand, quality products that attract people, she said. “I don’t want a place where people have to come and buy and are pressured,” she said. “I want just a place where they can wind down for the day, walk around and nobody is bugging them.”

The number of consigners bringing clothes also has increased, she said, allowing her to be more selective in the clothes she carries. She gives consigners three months to sell their items. At the end of that time, they can either pick up the item if it doesn’t sell or receive a check for the sale.

Cox has become just as selective with the items she carries. Though she put 600 items in the computer in one day last week, which she says is not even close to her peak, she had to look through more than 1,000 pieces of clothing.

Cox looks for clothes that are in style and in season. “People bring in things that worked in 1992 and think they can get the same thing out of them,” she said.

Though clothing and furniture remain hot items, Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore has also taken off, with sales tripling from fiscal year 2005 to 2006.

The store accepts donations of housing-related items such as cabinets, lighting and plumbing fixtures, doors, lumber and windows, and resells them at 50 to 75 percent of the retail price.

In the four years ReStore has been open, it has expanded its operating hours to 40 hours a week and has had to use donated warehouse space to store some of its items. Lance Henning, executive director of the chapter, said the organization is looking at a new strategic plan for the store after beating business projections twice and seeing a need to expand beyond the 1,100-square-foot building.

The money generated has allowed the organization to expand its mission from building six houses a year to 16, and it is looking at serving 20 low-income families a year in the future. “We wouldn’t be where we are today if the ReStore had not done as well as it has,” Henning said.

Several other resale stores have opened in the past few years or renovated to a more upscale, boutique look. Joni Recinos, owner of ReStyle, a consignment store she opened 14 years ago in Newton and later moved to Marshalltown, just reopened her store in Sherwood Forest shopping center in Windsor Heights. Recinos only sells in-season name-brand clothing in very good condition.

The Bargain Basket and the Salvation Army thrift shops in the East Village have both been renovated in the past year. The Bargain Basket has moved to the building behind its former East Grand Avenue location, and has been renamed Shop Around.

But as fast as stores are opening, Cox said, “I’ve seen 10 or 12 close right away since I’ve started.

“It costs money to open a consignment store. The first three years I spent a terrific amount on advertising just to get my name out there. It costs money, and I also don’t think they realize how labor intensive it is.”

But those in the business don’t see competition heating up with an increase in secondhand stores, because they say most thrift and consignment shoppers like going to multiple locations.

“There’s plenty of business for everybody,” Cox said.