Garage sales often act as suppliers for the thrift shops, several North Olympic Peninsula store managers say.
“It’s more of a symbiotic relationship than competition,” said Sue Garlinghouse, manager at the Children’s Hospital Thrift Store in Port Townsend.
Garage sales actually get the public out and about on Saturdays, which helps their business, she said.
They even “eked out a good day” when the Humane Society held its garage sale at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.
Items that don’t sell at garage sales often end up stocking her store, Garlinghouse said.
“Sometimes it is a benefit, sometimes not,” Garlinghouse said.
“We are an upper echelon store, so we only want the good stuff.”
Garage sales benefit the three major Port Angeles Thrift stores — Goodwill, St. Vincent De Paul and Serenity House — with proceeds helping the disabled, the needy and homeless.
“No, we just like the leftovers, and we offer to pick them up for them,” Sally Garnero, volunteer coordinators with Serenity House Thrift Store in Port Angeles, said with a laugh.
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The rest of the story appears in the Sunday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.
