PHOENIX—While many retailers have struggled, business has thrived since Estefania Gasca and her husband, Cristobal Zepeda, established Thrift It Forward consignment store in Phoenix nearly two years ago.
Some days, the second-hand goods sell as quickly as they come in.
The couple has learned to appreciate the intrinsic value of old things, as second-hand resale and “do-it-yourself” repairs grow in popularity.
Gasca views it as a gradual paradigm shift—a new way of living based on old-school thinking.
“I feel like people are being more frugal. I feel that people are resorting more to buying second-hand rather than new,” said Gasca, standing behind the check-out counter on May 1….