Our methodology allowed for us to code many reviews for key words and phrases that indicated to us their values. Because of the nature of this method, we did not fully conduct qualitative analysis of particular reviews. We found that certain reviews made by consumers had the potential to speak to larger issues that this particular study did not go into. They were selected as “noteworthy comments” which could be further analyzed in a qualitative study. There were particular reviews which we could identify clear themes and consumer concerns, including several instances of racist and agist discrimination. For example, Susan W. wrote a review for Heart’s Decor Consignment about how she was not given a first-time customer discount when two white women were offered the deal. In addition, Heather S. wrote a review for Red Light Clothing Exchange where she was discriminated against when pushing a stroller.
These instances of discrimination point to the question of equitable access to thrift and consignment stores. Thrift stores may provide a solution to overconsumption, affordable clothing options, and fashion finds, but these benefits may be optimized for certain populations. Race, age, and income seem to be determining factors in who second hand stores are serving as based on comments in Yelp reviews. In order to approach issues of equitable access, we executed a pilot study in which we utilized a Geographic Information System (GIS) to spatially analyze the locations of the Portland second hand clothing stores analyzed previously with Yelp. We mapped the thirty consignment and thrift store locations (with different sized location points based on price of store) on a map of the City of Portland. We then made different versions of this map, overlaying different demographic information.
Figure 5: Map of Secondhand Stores and Population With Income Under $25,000
Figure 6: Map of Secondhand Stores and Unemployment
Figure 7: Map of Secondhand Stores and African American Population
Figure 8: Map of Secondhand Stores and Population Age 18-34
The GIS maps show several key trends on the distribution of thrift and consignment shops. Firstly, most of the shops, especially the more expensive and consignment type shops, were centered around downtown Portland and the Hawthorne district. Very few are located on the periphery of the city, where we found mostly inexpensive and thrift type shops. Spatially, people located farther away from the center of the city have fewer close by thrift store options. We also found noticeable trends in the lack of second hand stores in neighborhoods with high instances of people making under $25,000 a year and African Americans. Conversely, the there are high instances of second hand stores located in areas with larger 18-34 year old population, showing these type of stores to be prominent surrounding younger communities.
Further research can expand on this preliminary spatial analysis by providing an in-depth look into the location of all second hand stores in Portland with relation to transportation routes. Tracking the location of second hand stores over time would also contribute to a better understanding of the trends and how thriftiness has or has not changed with the demographic shifts in Portland. It would also be beneficial to survey the consumers at thrift and consignment stores in order to see if who is actually shopping at and benefitting from these stores. This could be analyzed in Portland to complement our research, or in another city where thriftiness less ingrained in the culture to provide a different context for comparison.
Additional research could also expand on the idea of second hand stores as a situated object by looking through different perspectives. For instance, one could study how second hand store owners perceive their own values and if they see themselves as purveyors of incremental change for a social or ecological benefit. This could be contrasted with consumer values that we found. It could also be beneficial to research the effect, or lackthereof, that second hand stores have on the economy to see how much of an effect the used economy actually holds in preventing overconsumption. The second hand economy can also be analyzed through a different context than clothing though used cars, construction materials, etc. Finally, further research could be conducted into Yelp as a platform and how its biases toward certain values may play a role in the development of socially and environmentally conscious businesses.