NY Times covers the not so new trend of shopping at Thrift + Resale Stores

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/business/yourmoney/26money.html
The New York Times
April 26, 2008
Your Money
For Many, Thrift Shops Are a Wardrobe Essential
By CAITLIN KELLY

SHEENA MASSIE, dragged by her mother to garage and estate sales as a child, once cringed at the sight of used goods.

“The very thought of being caught by my peers buying other people’s junk was mortifying,” said Ms. Massie, a 25-year-old waitress in Canal Winchester, Ohio, near Columbus. “If someone else didn’t want it, why would I?”

But, like Ms. Massie, who with her mother is opening a thrift shop, more consumers are concluding that brand new is not necessarily better.

According to the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops, the industry is growing at a rate of 5 percent a year. And as the prices of gasoline and groceries edge higher and debt — be it mortgage or credit card — weighs more heavily, saving money on clothes, shoes and household goods has become increasingly essential for many people.

(click on NY Times link for the rest of the article)