Manitobans may not be able to try on clothing before purchasing it this holiday shopping season, owing to a wave of change room closures that began during the COVID-19 pandemic and, in the case of many secondhand shops, have since become permanent.
Retailers shut down fitting rooms as a safety precaution in 2020 amid confusion surrounding how COVID-19 was spread during the early days of the pandemic.
Many of these sections in Value Village, Salvation Army Thrift Store and Mennonite Central Committee Thrift Shop locations never reopened.
BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS
Value Village shopper Opal Wolfe on a changeroom: ‘It’d be awesome if they brought it back.’
Boxing Day shoppers who visited a thrift store in St. James said they missed the convenience of putting on potential purchases in a private space and had changed their buying habits as a result.
“I’m not buying any pants because I can’t try them on,” said Pasha Taksatov, who left the Ellice Avenue Value Village with a pair of used boots and a collared shirt that he plans to wear to a New Year’s Eve party.
A spokesman for the Retail Council of Canada said fitting rooms remain “relatively common,” but there are numerous reasons why some resale stores have reduced or eliminated them.
“Sales were not dramatically impacted by the elimination of change rooms in many areas of Canada, likely given the price point of many of the articles,” said John Graham, the council’s director of government relations for the Prairies, referencing thrift shop owners’ bottom lines when they made adjustments in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
In addition to getting rid of an uncontrolled environment where there’s an increased risk of theft, the new status-quo reduces staffing requirements and allows for personnel to be redirected to other duties, Graham said.
Salvation Army’s latest financial report indicates revenue from donated goods was “strong,” totalling $185 million for the 2023-24 fiscal year, up $7 million from one year earlier.
“The impact of inflation on the rising cost of consumer goods has led to an increased patronage in our thrift stores,” per the report.
Between 2013-14 and 2022-23, the charity raised an average of $147 million annually — with a decade-low of $107,165,000 during the first full fiscal period impacted by COVID-19 — via its secondhand stores.
“Given the ongoing challenges faced by the retail industry post-pandemic, such as increased theft and staffing shortages, we made the carefully considered decision to permanently remove our change rooms in 2022,” said Clara Pina, national communications manager for the Salvation Army Thrift Store.
Pina said customers were surveyed and their feedback informed a decision to extend shop exchange policies from 15 to 30 days, with an option to receive store credit for clothing, footwear, bedding and linens that are returned within that period.
Stores have installed extra mirrors in response to the changeroom closures affecting thrifter experiences, she noted.
The changes have not deterred Opal Wolfe, who is studying fashion design at MC College, from thrifting.
“I’m used to it at this point, but it’d be awesome if they brought it back,” Wolfe said.
The avid thrifter said she stays on top of returning items that don’t fit when she is able to try them on properly at home, or resells those items online.
On Boxing Day, the 23-year-old set out to find a used VHS player. While that search proved unsuccessful, her final haul included a handful of sweaters, a skirt and an oversized dress that she plans to tailor.
National representatives from Savers, a for-profit company that owns Value Village, and MCC, a charity whose thrift stores are run by volunteers, did not respond to requests for comment.
Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter
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