American Thrift, a South Florida-based secondhand chain that’s been reselling donated goods since 1997, opened its ninth store and first Central Florida location Saturday morning at 2000 Principal Row in Orlando. The 30,000-square-foot shopping space kicked off its grand opening celebration at 10:30 a.m. with giveaways and a golden ticket scavenger hunt offering three lucky shoppers $100 in store credit each.
The Orlando debut marks a notable expansion for a chain that has spent nearly three decades rooted in South Florida before pushing north, according to Orlando Weekly. Outside of the new Orlando outpost, American Thrift operates six stores across South Florida — in Hialeah, Cutler Bay, Hollywood, Lauderhill, Greenacres and West Palm Beach — plus three more locations in New York and New Jersey, per the company’s own store listings. The Orlando location sits on a 36,000-square-foot free-standing building that Cohen Commercial Realty helped the chain acquire back in October 2024, nearly two years before doors opened to shoppers.
What You Can (and Can’t) Donate
American Thrift accepts donations of clothing, furniture, accessories, toys, household goods and even wigs, giving those items what the Orlando Weekly report calls a second life on the sales floor. One notable exception: the chain does not accept food donations of any kind. The store’s business model leans on a sustainable shopping approach, funneling secondhand goods back into circulation rather than landfills.
That diversion matters beyond just convenience for shoppers looking to declutter. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates Americans generate more than 17 million tons of textile waste every year, with less than 15% of it recycled and roughly 85% ending up in landfills or incinerators, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Thrift retailers of American Thrift’s scale represent one avenue for pulling usable goods out of that waste stream before they’re tossed.
Proceeds Fund Florida Breast Cancer Research
American Thrift locations use donations to support breast cancer research and awareness, and the Orlando store specifically supports the Florida Breast Cancer Foundation. That nonprofit was founded in 1993 by three Miami women and directs all money it raises strictly toward scientific research, education, advocacy and direct living expenses for patients within Florida, according to the Florida Breast Cancer Foundation. Beyond thrift store partnerships, the foundation also draws public funding through Florida’s specialty End Breast Cancer, or I-CARE, license plate, which the state introduced in 2002…