'Busier than heck'

It's holiday shopping for a fraction of the cost.

The festive season sparks a surge in shopping for thrift stores around the nation, and Yuba-Sutter shops are no exception.

After hosting their own Black Friday sales on the day after Thanksgiving, the secondhand shops are frequent destination for those in pursuit of Christmas decorations, winter wear and gifts for the whole family.

"We're just busier than heck," said Joe Rivera, sales associate at The Salvation Army in Marysville. "Being the way the economy is, you find a lot of bargains here."

A singing Santa figurine caught Cassi Sweet's attention Saturday as she browsed the Goodwill's shelves. And now the $3.99 decoration will adorn her mantle this holiday.

"You may not be looking for anything in particular, but something may catch your eye," she said.

Her mother, Gail Johnson, spotted a 3-foot-tall stuffed snowman and lifted it into her cart. The ornamentation, with its carrot nose, red jacket and walking stick wrapped like a wreath, will be a great addition to her holiday collection, she said.

There's no better place to look for holiday decorations than thrift shops, which have everything from metal hooks to hang ornaments to gift wrapping and fake Christmas trees, Sweet said.

"With the economy the way it is, thrift stores are a good place to start," she said.

About 11.4 percent of consumers planned to spend their holiday dollars at thrift and resale shops, according to the National Retail Federation annual survey.

Christmas trees are always popular, said Grace Poole, assistant manager of the Goodwill in Yuba City. It's the same tree people would pay $100 for elsewhere but the thrift shop sells them for $19.99.

"We start putting them out in November, and by December they are gone," she said.

Snow gear, name-brand jeans and sweaters top the list of popular items at A Little Bit of Everything, said owner Sofie Gomez. Because the store is tucked away, regular customers comprise the majority of holiday foot traffic, but new people are turning to thrift stores all the time.

"The money is just not there for a lot of people like it was before," she said. "They don't have $200 to spend on a coat they can get for $10 or $20."

The National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops reports about two-thirds of its members saw higher holiday sales in 2008, and the group expects that to continue in 2009.

The economy might spur an increase in customers, but there has also been a surge in donations. Ruth Maser, manager of the Discovery Shop in Yuba City, pulled 150 boxes of Christmas items out of storage this year, compared to about 100 in years past, and filled her shelves with red, white and green.

People visit thrift shops during the holidays for the same reason as any other month of the year, Maser said.

"They get good deals on items," she said. Yuba City resident Dana Rentz found cardboard cutouts of reindeer, Santa Claus and snowmen to decorate her house with while out shopping Saturday. She goes to thrift stores almost every day and has found numerous treasures among the clothes and trinkets stuffing the shelves, she said.

"My mom calls it recycling," she said. "That's her way of going green."

The seasonal sales are ongoing for many of the thrift shops, including different deals almost every day of December at the Salvation Army and The Discover Shop will have its semi-annual 50-percent-off sale just before Christmas.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ashley Gebb at 749-4724 or agebb@appealdemocrat.com. The Orlando Sentinel contributed to this report.