Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat: What is your view about the Savers Value Village IPO? Thanks for all your sensible advice.

Article Excerpt

A: Savers Value Village Inc., $15.71, symbol SVV on New York (Shares outstanding: 160.5 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; www.savers.com), is the largest for-profit thrift operator in the U.S. and Canada. It operates 152 stores in the U.S., 157 in Canada, and 12 in 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. That was above the preliminary range of $15 to $17. 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. 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…