Hunt for value has taken stigma off Goodwill, store brands, fast food

If anything good has come from our Great Recession, it’s the fact that people are learning to become more frugal and to make do with less. 

“In the wake of the Great Recession, the stigma attached to certain consumer behavior has fallen away. What some people once thought of as lowbrow, they now accept — even consider a frugal badge of honor.”

PHOTO - The Paramus, N.J., store is one of 100 new locations for the nonprofit Goodwill. Many are in middle-class suburbs. The strategy: Attract not only people in need, but also the many Americans who are looking for more value.