Thrifting has taken the fashion world by storm and has become a hub for shopping addicts.

A thrift store sells gently used clothes, shoes, jewelry and many other fashion items. Many thrift stores accept donations and pay donors for their contribution.

Thrifting has gained more popularity in the past two years and has become a new option for people of all ages to shop.

A simple Google search for thrift stores in Lexington brings up over a dozen results. The results include several Goodwill locations, as well as independent locations such as Sassy Fox, Lord John Vintage, POPS Resale and Vintage Therapy.

Dan Shorr, the owner of POPS Resale in Lexington, has seen an increase in the thrift store’s sales in the past few years.

“The past 3-4 years have seen large growth in thrifting in general, with the biggest increases being in clothing,” Shorr said.

POPS Resale is one of Lexington’s most popular thrift stores and has seen many different ages in and out of the store.

“While we see all age groups from pre-teen to ‘Elderly,’ the largest portion right now would be middle teens through late 20’s,” Shorr said.

Thrifting has even gotten the attention of the national government. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 16–18% of Americans shop at thrift stores a year. This is a competitive statistic when compared to trends of buying new clothes in-person. The same Census Bureau report said that 11.4% of Americans shop in factory outlet malls and 19.6% shop in apparel stores.

The Census Bureau declared Aug. 17, 2022, to be National Thrift Store Day – another piece of evidence pointing to the growth of thrifting’s popularity. However, thrifting is not a new concept. In fact, the National Association of Resale Professionals, an organization designed to promote resale shopping and support resale shop owners, has existed since 1984.

High school and college students are the most prominent age range that are attracted to thrifting, considering they can get name brands for low cost.

UK sophomore Sam Ross said that she has been thrifting for four years and loves to go whenever she is able to. She said she doesn’t go to a thrift store to find a specific piece of clothing, but rather looks for something she can add to her wardrobe.

“My favorite thrift store is Goodwill,” Ross said.

Junior Enoch Vaenuku said that thrifting has been a part of his life for as long as he can remember, and he has been thrifting since he was a child.

“I love thrifting. Everything I am wearing I thrifted,” Vaenuku said.

His wardrobe includes many thrifted items that he has bought at multiple different resale stores.

“My favorite thing about thrifting is finding a really nice piece of clothing and learning about the history of it,” Vaenuku said.