And of everything sold, 95% goes to American Kidney Services,” said a manager of Value Village Atlanta, when asked how much of the store’s proceeds go to charity. “Everything donated goes 100% to the American Kidney Services. No signs alert shoppers or donors at the store that it is a for-profit corporation. The company’s privacy policy says one of its missions is acquiring most of its goods from “companies that support charitable organizations.” But, mirroring arrangements at a growing number of regional for-profit thrift stores, donations come in directly from consumers either at the store or via home pickups and donation bins placed around the greater Atlanta area and beyond.Īnd the size of the store’s charitable contributions versus its revenues are not disclosed to the public.
Window of a Value Village Atlanta store calls it a donation center for the American Kidney Fund. It also owns and operates outlets in North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Missouri, either “directly or through affiliated companies,” according to the company’s posted privacy policy. Value Village Atlanta is unaffiliated with the Washington state thrift chain and operates a dozen Georgia stores. “Despite the fact that no portion of an in-store purchase benefits a charity partner, Value Village nevertheless advertises that store purchases benefit charities,” according to Washington state’s court filings.Īnd this pattern is being copied by other for-profit thrift-store chains around the nation. The state charged the company with misleading consumers and donors into believing that all types of donations and purchases benefited charity, creating the impression that the company itself was a charity. The company, which operates stores called Savers and Value Village, was sued by the Washington state Attorney General in 2017.
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A series of articles by InvestigateWest in 2015 exposed the practices of the Washington-based for-profit thrift chain, leading to actions by regulators in California, Illinois and Washington. In November 2019, a Washington state Superior Court judge ruled that TVI Inc., also known as Savers, the largest for-profit thrift retailer in the world, had been deceiving consumers for years. “It’s not clear to the public who’s benefiting.” “They pay a very, very small percentage to the charities, while giving people a very different impression,” said Adele Meyer, executive director of the Association of Resale Professionals, the leading trade organization for secondhand stores. The surge in secondhand shopping opens opportunities for the public to be misled about how much money these for-profit retailers are making off the charities they brag about benefiting, according to charity watchdogs and regulators, as well as government records and other information gathered by InvestigateWest of the for-profit thrift store industry. The growth of for-profit thrift stores like Value Village Atlanta is expanding nationwide as many Americans use the extra time at home during the pandemic to clean out their closets, while others turn to thrift stores as they tighten their belts. A sandwich board solicits donations to the American Kidney Fund, along with more signage for the charity in the windows.īut consumers and donors could be unaware that, unlike many thrift stores, sales from their secondhand goods go to a profitable business and not a charity. They hope to find a beaded gown befitting a Bride of Dracula or a fringed Elvis jumpsuit.īilled as a “Treasure Hunter’s Paradise,” the popular thrift store sits in the corner of the old Moreland Shopping Center. ATLANTA – On a sunny afternoon before Halloween, shoppers at Value Village Atlanta cruise the aisles, browsing for bargains.
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