Thrift. But what does it mean? Surely, it isn’t just about shopping secondhand and saving more, but something else. With the rise in thrift stores in recent years, the true origins of thrifting have become a popular question. In reality, thrifting dates back to the 1990s and was originally associated with hippies who sold some band merch, such as from the beloved band, Nirvana. Bozeman has no shortage of these thrift stores that have truly grown into much more than a hippie store. 

In the heart of the Four Corners area lies Twice Treasured Thrift and Boutique, a local non-profit that believes in raising a profit to benefit the community—primarily towards Christian education in the valley. One of the many thrift stores in Bozeman, their volunteer staff members are friendly, and the shop itself is full of hidden treasures. Thrift in Bozeman, however, is unheard of without a mention of many of the other thrift stores in town: Re-Couture, Cash4Clothes, Do Overs Thrift, Four Corners Thrift, Sacks of Bozeman, and more. Senior Casen Ripple, a theater member at Gallatin High, enjoys shopping in every thrift store, but has a specific fondness for Cash4Clothes. This downtown store is the home for all things secondhand vintage, with a sprinkle of modern.

Another quick mention to thrifting in the valley is Rethink Thrift for one, who hosts their 50% off Fridays which draw in numerous Bozeman residents and travelers every week to see what else there is to explore. However, Gallatin High senior and artist, Marren Russell considers all the other thrift stores Bozeman has to offer. She not only showed off her 98% thrifted outfit (everything but the shoes were thrifted), but gave advice for where to shop thrift in town. “Typically, Do Overs has the best prices if you’re willing to dig for good stuff. Re-Couture has some good stuff. You have to find the stuff that’s on sale and actually worth it. Quality for quantity. If you drive up to Kalispell there are a ton of good places. What Goodwill used to be like: Piles and piles of good stuff.” 

Russell isn’t  the only Gallatin High student who loves to thrift for clothes and other items. Gallatin High junior, Amelia Messman, wishes she had time to thrift more and shop at her favorite Bozeman Thrift shop: Sacks of Bozeman. Overall, Messman’s favorite part of thrifting is the ability to “Find the worst clothes ever and try them on with my friends. I think it's funny to find the worst possible outfit and try it on. It's fun.” Additionally, Tesse Kamps, a Gallatin High senior, especially enjoys thrifting because she can find cheap stuff. Generally, Kamps will shop at the Bozeman Goodwill stores.

Bozeman isn’t the only town seeing a rise in the trend towards thrift in recent years. In fact, ThredUp, an online resale company suggests that the entire global market for secondhand clothing and goods is only growing. By 2027, the market is expected to double, reaching an all time high of $350 billion US dollars. 

In reality, thrift is only growing, and could soon be expected to take over many fashion retailers in profit and customer count. Since the rise of Climate Change awareness, Americans (72%, as recorded by Fortune.com) prefer to buy not only environmentally friendly clothing, but recycled clothing as well. Holidays such as National Thrift Store Day on August 17th and National Second-hand Wardrobe Day on August 25th are likely to only add to this growing market’s customer count.

Thrift stores in the valley and around the world have caught on to the true environmental positives that come with shopping secondhand. Green Story, a sustainable intelligence platform, claims that buying one used good instead of one new good could significantly reduce an individual’s carbon footprint—up to an 82% reduction. To sum it up, Brandon Gaille writes, “If everyone would purchase just one used item in the next 12 months, it would save 11 billion kilowatts of energy, 25 billion gallons of water, and 449 million pounds of waste.” It’s no surprise recent generations are more inclined to shop thrift. Russell herself says, “I think that’s totally sick. Save the planet!”

Ultimately, thrift shopping is not a trend that will be stopping anytime soon as these second hand stores continue to see a greater customer base with items that can appeal to anyone, an increase in profit (that often goes back towards the community), and a generation of individuals more inclined to buy ‘green’. These new generations have the ability to make an impact on the environment just by shopping secondhand items! The impacts are immeasurable more so when every profit goes back towards the community, so ‘thrift’ is no doubt a trend to follow.