The Sad State of Thrift Stores

I don't know about your area, but around here the state of the thrift shops lately has been just pitiful! It used to be that I couldn't wait to go at least once a week (more if I could sneak it in) but after so many experiences lately of walking out empty-handed and disgusted, I just don't bother. It's disappointing, because it's a long time from October to May when the garage sale season starts up in earnest again, and I need my junk fix! Normally I've been able to count on my thrifts (there are four or five within a short distance, more if I want to drive a little) to get my fix but this year I've been coming up dry.

Yesterday I popped into a thrift in search of some plates for a project. The first thing I noticed is that it looked like a bomb had gone off in there--it was a pigsty! Normally that thrift is kept pretty clean so maybe they'd had a particularly busy Sunday or something because it was a disaster. Adding to the chaos were at least a dozen little kids running wild, crying, leaving toys all over the store, and generally behaving like a bunch of heathens while their mothers ignored them completely. I almost left, but did find one treasure that it was worth waiting in line to purchase:
A bag full of tubes of vintage sequins, rickrack (not pictured), glitter, and beads. I love the older sequins and these are great! The red beads in the front are mercury glass.
My favorite thing in the bag was this little glass bottle of glitter. It's marked "StarTwinkle" by Elizabeth Arden in great pink script. I did some googling but can't figure out what was originally in the bottle. I think the vintage gold glitter is a perfect replacement for whatever it might have been!

In this store yesterday I was looking at the children's clothing and found a plain white Hanes under-T, size 4T, marked $2.99. Seriously, can't you buy a package of three for about that much? It was hanging right next to a Hanna Andersson sweater that was also marked $2.99 (which is perfectly reasonable) so what kind of moron do they have doing the pricing?

I wonder if instead of donating, people are holding onto their stuff and hoping to sell it this summer at garage sales to make some money. If so, maybe that's a good thing--more garage sales, where prices are much lower than the thrifts anyway, right? How is the thrifting in your area? Have you noticed any change in inventory levels or prices?