NEW YORK – Secondhand stores are trying to muscle in on the Black Friday blitz this year.

Thrift and consignment shops are betting that people who have bought more used things for themselves since the Great Recession will buy used gifts this year. They’re copying other retailers with gift certificates, elaborate window displays and early-morning specials.

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Salvation Army Maj. Henry Graciani shows toys that the San Diego, Calif., office hopes holiday shoppers might like. The Associated Press

For the first time, some Salvation Army resale shops will be open at 6 a.m., touting 75 percent-off early-bird specials on the traditional kickoff of holiday shopping.

“People didn’t consider us an option for Christmas gifts, but the stigma is wearing off,” says Salvation Army’s Major Henri Graciani, who manages 10 stores in the San Diego area that will be opening early.

Goodwill Industries Inc. recently opened its first temporary Christmas shops to increase its presence during the busiest shopping period of the year. The two stores, in Tacoma, Wash., area shopping centers, carry holiday furnishings, decorations and gifts. They’ll be shuttered Jan. 2. A rise in store vacancies since the Great Recession has allowed retailers to temporarily enter or ramp up in certain markets without making a big financial investment.

At Goodwill, which operates 2,500 stores, sales rose about 10 percent each of the last two years. The National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops, the industry trade association, predicts a big increase in holiday sales this year.

Merchandise varies at secondhand shops. Most inventory is used and slightly used items donated by individuals. Some goods are new and still in their packages, overruns from manufacturers or suppliers.

Returns usually aren’t accepted at secondhand shops, so Goodwill is promoting gift certificates this year. So is Housing Works, a 50-store chain in the New York City area.

Roundabout, an upscale consignment shop with four stores in New York and Connecticut, will wrap gifts this year, owner Laurie Perren says. She says she’s seeing more interest from wealthy buyers. Perren has saved the best designer bags and accessories for Black Friday. She’s also been more aggressive in urging regular customers who sell on consignment to bring in evening wear and other holiday fare.

“This is a sign of the times,” John Long, a retail strategist at Kurt Salmon Associates, says. “It’s also a reflection that while consumers themselves are really looking for value, they’re not abandoning the brands that they traditionally bought. They’re finding a great brand at a discounted price at a thrift shop.”

Secondhand items also appeal to people who are passionate about the environment because thrift-shop goods have been recycled.

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