Wearhouse Consignment Shop owner Jill Hartman is selling a lot of old clothes to new customers.

As food and fuel prices continue to climb, budget-conscious local shoppers are tightening their belts and exploring new territory: consignment, thrift and resale shops.

At Hartman's Landisville store, clothing sales have jumped 20 percent since last year.

"We've just been bonkers, busy, crazy — a lot of new faces looking to save some money on name-brand clothes," Hartman says.

"The economy does come up (in conversation), especially gas prices."

According to the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops, 75 percent of secondhand stores nationwide report higher sales, with an average increase of 30 percent.

Eighty percent of the stores are seeing more new customers. Many also report more new consignors of clothing and household goods.

Manager Lucas Gonzalez says new customers are flooding the Goodwill store, 2353 Lincoln Highway East, especially middle-class families looking for affordable clothing and furniture.

"Our prices are bringing them in," he says. "They just can't afford to shop the big retailers now, with the way everything's going with the economy."


       Shopping smarter


Of course, for plenty of long-frugal Lancastrians, like Sarah Marsico, of East Lampeter, thrift-shopping is nothing new.

"We have five kids, so I come (to Goodwill) all the time," she says.

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Shopping secondhand has significant advantages.

At the Salvation Army Thrift Store, 1244 Manheim Pike, clothing sells for 99 cents to $19.99, depending on brand name and condition.

Manager Jennifer Trinh says the store is definitely seeing more customers. But that doesn't necessarily translate to higher sales figures.

"They watch what they spend," she says. " ... I think everybody has to watch what they do right now, because of the economy."

The store is especially busy on Wednesdays, when clothing, shoes and accessories are half-off, Trinh says. Senior citizens get an extra discount on Thursday mornings.

Trinh and Gonzalez say the new shoppers are especially interested in clothing, followed by furniture.

At Goodwill, tops start at $3.75. Jeans go for $5.50; sought-after name brands are $2 more.

"People are looking for deals," Gonzalez says.

That includes Barbara Gangemi, of Huntingdon County, who's doing less traveling and trying to cut costs wherever she can.

But she, her husband — and their car carrier — still made their annual pilgrimage to the Lancaster Goodwill store, looking for bargains (and, she says, a better selection).

"Yeah, we have to pinch pennies nowadays," Gangemi says. "So it's Goodwill first."No matter how much disposable income they have — or don't have — women still love to shop, Trinh says.

She's noticed more teenage girls checking out racks at the Salvation Army, where they might find a $40 Abercrombie & Fitch sweatshirt for just $2.

"They say they can't afford the name brands in the mall," Trinh says. "They're shocked by how much they save (here)."

Hartman chalks up her higher sales in part to formerly gung-ho yard-salers who don't want to burn gas driving around from neighborhood to neighborhood every weekend.

Many people are now more open-minded about shopping secondhand.

"It's not your mom's consignment shop," Hartman says. "It doesn't smell funny. We're very selective."

And with the focus on green living, secondhand is an especially environmentally friendly way to shop.

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For many people, consigning used goods, like clothing, is a win-win transaction.

They clean out their closets and make some extra cash — typically 25 to 50 percent of the item's selling price — at the same time.

On a recent day, Hartman was on the phone nonstop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., booking appointments with new consignors.

Kelly Bess, a Manheim Township mother of three, frequently donates clothing to charities.

But she often tries consigning first.

Bess pockets up to $100 each season through consigning. And it's far easier than having a yard sale.

"You definitely get more dollars for your items," she says. "(At) yard sales, they tend to bargain with you too much."

At Goodwill, clothing donations have spiked, Gonzalez says, often with a line of people waiting to drop off items they couldn't unload at not-so-well-attended yard sales.

Of course, especially savvy donors know they're not just giving away those old clothes.

They're getting a tax deduction.