Our founder, William O. (Bill) Ellison (July 3, 1928 – May 25, 2008), grew
up in “thrift” before the name was even coined. His grandfather
and great uncle, Ben and Orlo Ellison, were instrumental in building the Salvation
Army's thrift organization in the 1930's and '40s. Bill opened his first store
in San Francisco, California in 1954.
By 1970, the San Francisco store became a chain, and its headquarters moved north
to the Seattle, Washington area. Savers, Inc. went international in 1980 when it
opened its first Canadian store on Hastings Street in Vancouver, British Columbia
called Value Village.
In the last 50+ years, we've grown to more than 315 stores and have paid more than
$1.5 billion dollars to local nonprofits over the last 10 years.
Savers, Inc. is the parent company of TVI, Inc. Village Stores, Inc., Savers Australia
Pty, Ltd. and Savers Recycling, Inc. TVI, Inc. operate in the United States under
the trade names Savers, Value Village, Unique and Valu Thrift. In Canada, Value
Village Stores, Inc. operates under the trade names Value Village and Village des
Valeurs. Savers Australia Pty Ltd operates in Australia under the trade name Savers.
We employ more than 19,000 team members throughout the United States, Canada and
Australia and have an optimistic plan for future growth.