“One man’s trash is another man’s come-up.” Many New Yorkers must agree with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ latest hit song, “Thrift Shop,” since New York City is being flooded with thrift shops. Along East 23rd Street, between Lexington Avenue and Second Avenue, there are five thrift shops. These shops, once commonly visited by older people, now attract younger men, women and even teenagers.
So why are thrift shops so popular at the moment? A 26-year-old female explains, “I love it [thrift shops], it’s cheap, you find good deals, you can make clothes and make things … great jewelry and cute dresses … no one else will have what you -well a few people will have what you find in a thrift shop, that’s why I love it.”
Thrift shops often support a charity by selling donated used clothes and household items, such as furniture.
After the song “Thrift Shop” premiered, many more people became curious about thrift shops. Twenty-three-year-old Sasha Smith believes the song by Macklemore definitely got her friends into thrift shopping. “Now my friends, they’re like, ‘let’s go thrift shopping!’” She said.
On the other hand, the song had a negative impact on 16-year-old Parmanand Pheku, who said, “I honestly would never shop in one [thrift shop] due to the overdose of teenagers singing Macklemore’s hit song.”
Not everyone is fond of thrift shops, Michelle, 19 years old, compared hand-me-downs to the used clothes from thrift shops. “If you get a hand-me-down it’s most likely from someone who you know and you’ll feel more comfortable wearing it, if you’re getting something [from a thrift shop] you don’t know the person.”
Alternatively, Alex Tlatelpa from Brooklyn says that he sees “nothing wrong with them … they’re just not for me … I’m not about that life.”
Thrift shops are not for everyone and in the end, the choice of shopping at thrift shops or not is a matter of preference.