Do Eastern Europeans Only Wear Second-Hand Clothing When They Are "Poor"?

In the past few years, the global financial crisis has caused heavy losses to central and Eastern Europe, but many second-hand clothing stores have sprung up. Even Western Europeans are compressing their families' financial expenses. Many people are starting to patronize them. Primark Discount stores like that. Wages in Eastern Europe are much lower than those in Western Europe, and many people use second-hand clothing stores. As a result, many companies are getting rich by running second-hand clothing stores.

According to foreign media sources, second-hand clothing stores increased rapidly in Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Croatia. Bulgaria's second-hand clothing company mania opened a new store in Romania and Greece. In Hungary, in order to meet the rapidly growing consumption demand, Hada, a large second-hand clothing company, is going to invest 1 million 600 thousand euros to build an old clothing sorting hall. These companies have bought second-hand clothing from Western European countries, some of which are brand new clothes with labels. According to analysts, "from 1995~2008, the incomes of eastern and central European citizens will be increased by one percentage point from the average of Western Europe every year, from 35% to 50%. After the economic crisis, this growth rate dropped sharply. Although the economy has grown greatly this year, there is still a long way to go before recovering to pre crisis levels. Last year, the country's Second hand clothing Imports amounted to 56 million euros, more than 2 times that of 2008. Hada, which runs second-hand clothing, has 60 stores in Hungary, which is expected to account for about 1/3 of the country's market share. Next year, the company will invest 1 million 600 thousand euros to build a sorting hall in the east of Hungary, adding 150 workers, with a total number of 900 workers. The company imports 30~40 tons of second-hand clothing from Britain every week, with an annual turnover of up to 32 million 400 thousand euros. The company was originally a family business, sorting second-hand clothes in a village near the Ukraine border. Gioki Hatta, the founder, said, "at that time, my wife, my grandmother and my sister-in-law came to help sorting clothes." The company's response to the financial crisis is to close down stagnant shops and open new stores in areas with stronger purchasing power, including larger shopping plaza. "I think the crisis has made consumers learn to be frugal," he said.

In Poland, more than 40% people often buy second-hand clothing. In 2013, the total number of second-hand clothing imported in the country amounted to 100 million euros, which was almost 60 million euros higher than the average in previous years. These secondhand garments are mainly from England, Germany and Scandinavian. Warsaw's Georgia Street is famous for its second-hand stores. More than a dozen secondhand shops are very close. In general, it is estimated that there are about 2.1 000 second-hand shops in the country in 2011. The prices of different stores vary widely, ranging from 30 kg (9 dollars) to 80 kg per kilogram.

In the capital Zagreb of Croatia, new second-hand clothing stores have sprung up in the past 10 years. Nina Belik, 53, runs one of the oldest second-hand clothing stores in Zagreb. "Only one of us was 10 years ago, but now people are becoming more frugal. The number of second-hand clothing stores is growing rapidly, and the business of these stores is good," she said. However, the compression of household finances in Western Europe also affects the second-hand clothing business in Eastern Europe and central Europe. In addition, the owners of secondhand clothing stores are finding it difficult to find a good source of goods recently. Jalanta, a second-hand clothing store owner in Warsaw, said: " Britisher They are getting poorer and poorer, and the quality of clothing they dispose of is not as good as before.