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Inside the $2.2 billion thrift-store giant expanding across Australia
🇦🇺 Australia /Economy & Trade

Inside the $2.2 billion thrift-store giant expanding across Australia

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Savers Australia has opened its 19th store as its US parent, Savers Value Village, expands its second-hand retail presence.
  • The publicly traded parent is valued at $2.2 billion and operates hundreds of stores in the United States and Canada.
  • Australian charities say Savers’ for-profit model could divert customers and donations, while the company says it gave Australian nonprofit partners $5.6 million last year.

Some shoppers drove for hours to attend the opening of Savers’ latest store in Geelong. One heavily pregnant woman stood at the front of the 100-metre queue, laughing that she needed plenty of clothes for the two babies she was carrying.

I have two babies in here, so I need a lot of clothes.

— Unidentified shopperShe joked while standing at the front of the queue for the new Geelong store.

The regional Victorian store is Savers’ 19th in Australia. The retailer is the Australian subsidiary of US-based Savers Value Village, a company valued at $2.2 billion whose shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange. American private equity firm Ares Management owns a majority stake.

Savers Value Village operates 185 stores in the United States and 172 in Canada. Refinitiv data says it earned more than $300 million last year and recorded a gross profit margin of 50 percent, well above the industry average. IBISWorld recently said larger operators such as Cash Converters, Savers and Vinnies had consistently outperformed smaller non-employing businesses, mainly because of their economies of scale.

We should be keeping as much as what we can in Australia.

— Esther Koning-OakesShe expressed concern about the effect of Savers’ expansion on local charities.

That expansion worries some Australian charities. Savers competes with nonprofit retailers such as Vinnies and Salvos, as well as small volunteer-run op shops that sell donated goods to fund community programs. Esther Koning-Oakes, who runs Norlane Community House in Geelong, fears her organization’s Treasures shop will lose customers and donations. “I think a lot of people, when they donate things, they want to donate it for a good cause,” she told ABC News. “Having it for a for-profit company means that that is going into shareholders or upper management, and it doesn't actually go back into community.”

I think a lot of people, when they donate things, they want to donate it for a good cause.

— Esther Koning-OakesShe explained why donors might prefer community op shops.

Savers’ US headquarters told ABC News that it gave Australian nonprofit partners $5.6 million last year, or about $310,000 per local store. Local boss Michael Fisher said he was sorry to hear the concerns and that the company wanted to grow the circular economy while partnering with nonprofits in Australia and globally.

I'm sorry to hear those concerns because at Savers, it's important to us to make sure that we grow in the circular economy.

— Michael FisherThe local Savers boss responded to concerns from Australian charities.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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