Deseret Industries, affordability for the 2nd hand

Now is the best time to throw out your old, unused items and pick up someone else’s old and unused items.

Deseret Industries or DI, as it’s more commonly known, might be considered Utah’s prime thrift store. With 46 stores in seven western states, DI has provided thousands of people a place to recycle their old clothes, toys and other items. It also provides a store to “purchase inexpensive, quality merchandise in a clean, safe retail environment,” said the newsroom website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The church established DI in 1938 as a nonprofit, vocational rehabilitation facility and a thrift store.

While shopping around the retail floor you might find a myriad of interesting products and smart shoppers. Last Friday, George Strong could be seen meandering around the old electronics, testing the boom boxes and filing through the videos and CDs. He had already picked up a couple of folding chairs.

“It used to better years ago,” Strong said. “Now if something doesn’t sell, they’ll throw it away.”

Strong, who shops at the store nearly once a month, said that DI used to mark down prices when items weren’t selling.

Susan Ruiz and her husband, Edgar, were shopping the aisle of odds and ends—containing such things as silverware, glassware, multi-colored plates, picture frames, and wooden decorative items.

“You just can’t beat the deals,” Susan said. “I don’t have to buy everything brand new again.”

Susan, who shops at DI a couple of times a week, is proud of the great deals she has frequently found. Last week she purchased a pitcher with a 22 karat gold rim for only 50 cents. She was going to sell it for much more than she paid for it.

Her husband, Edgar, from Latin America, was carrying what looked like a heavy, tall, pink lamp.

“She found this lamp,” Edgar said, pointing to his wife, Susan. “I’m carrying it all over the place.”