A Member of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle recently asked for his advice on Savers Value Village, a well-known for-profit thrift store operator which sells second-hand clothing and household goods sourced from nonprofits while promoting sustainability.
Pat likes the firm’s exposure to booming thrift demand amid sustainability trends and value-conscious consumers, with robust expansion (26 stores in 2025, 25 planned for 2026) ongoing. However, Pat notes the Canadian segment’s slower growth and margin pressures from rapid expansion could weigh even more on overall profitability if U.S. momentum falters amid economic slowdowns or competition from online resale platforms.
Savers Value Village Inc. (Symbol SVV on New York; www.savers.com) is the largest for-profit thrift operator in the U.S. and Canada. It operates 354 stores in the U.S., Canada, and Australia under the Savers, Value Village, Village des Valeurs, Unique and 2nd Ave. banners.
The company first sold shares to the public and began trading on June 29, 2023, at $18 a share. It now trades at nearly half its IPO price.
Savers Value Village was founded by Bill Ellison, who opened the first store in San Francisco’s Mission District in 1954. His father was a career officer with the Salvation Army who managed their second-hand clothing stores. He helped finance his son’s first store.
By 1970, the company had six stores in three states and had moved its head office to Seattle. It opened its first Canadian store in 1980.
Though Savers Value Village is a company that runs for-profit thrift stores, it buys much of its merchandise from local nonprofits that have had merchandise donated to them. In this way, the company does help local nonprofits, which cycle that money back into the community.
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Savers Value Village’s thrift sales surge 15.6% in the latest quarter
In the three months ended January 3, 2026, Savers Value Village’s revenue rose 15.6%, to $464.7 million from $402.0 million a year earlier. Excluding currency and an extra week, sales increased by 8.4% in the quarter. Same-store sales rose 5.4%. That was due to a 0.7% rise in Canada, and an 8.8% increase in its U.S. stores. The company opened 10 new locations during the quarter.
Excluding one-time items, Savers Value Village earned $23.8 million, or $0.15 a share, down 1.7% from $24.2 million, or $0.15. That was due to higher costs.
The company’s loyalty program remains a major plus. Loyalty members typically provide more repeat and dependable business. Their spending also tends to increase steadily over the long term compared to casual shoppers. It finished 2025 with 6.1 million members.
Savers Value Village’s shares took a big drop in November 2025—before recovering somewhat in early February 2026. However, the shares have since moved down to today’s level—which is about where they fell to in November.
The decline came as Savers Value Village reported lower-than-expected sales in the 2025 third quarter. Its earnings also failed to beat analyst forecasts, as they were hurt by rising labour costs, as well as higher expenses associated with adding stores. In Canada, the company faced higher costs due to inflation, in addition to higher unemployment hurting traffic.
Meanwhile, the company’s sales recovered in the latest quarter, especially in the U.S., and its outlook is positive going forward.
Recommendation in Pat’s Inner Circle: Savers Value Village is okay to hold for aggressive investors.
