Garage sales have been popular this summer as people look for ways to save money.
"It's a big deal, especially with the tough economic times," said Rebecca Sharp, who was having a garage sale in Park Rapids with her parents over the weekend.
Her family usually has garage sales during holiday weekends. The first sale is Memorial Day weekend. Then, they have sales around the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends.
"Holiday weekends are big," she said. "You really see the traffic increase."
A lot of seasonal residents are also looking for items to fix up their cabins, said Brad Sharp, her dad.
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The Sharps sell a bit of everything, from clothes to antique fishing reels and grills.
"We started with seven tubs of kids clothes this summer and all are gone," Sharp said.
The Park Rapids area seems to have some of the best garage sales around, she said. Rebecca Sharp said she knows college kids from Fargo, N.D. who come to Park Rapids to check out the garage sales.
"We get a lot of tourists who come and just want something to do," she said.
Kim Berghuis also had a garage sale set up over Labor Day weekend.
The majority of the items she was selling were children's clothes and toys.
"I say why buy new when you can recycle," Berghuis said.
She shops for clothes for her three children at garage sales.
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"Winter clothes, especially," she said. "In today's economy it's the smartest thing to do."
Berghuis said she typically has one or two garage sales each summer.
"People are so thankful, too, when they find a good deal," she said.
Her daughter, Kelsey, helped out with the sale this summer by setting up a lemonade stand.
Carol Anderson said she enjoys having garage sales because she meets a lot of nice people.
"You have people who come back each time," she said.
Furniture sells really well, along with kitchen items, she said.
"You never know what people are going to buy," Anderson said.
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Todd Norquist set up a garage sale over the weekend to get rid of some extra items.
"I've got too much junk," he said.
Many of the items were collectibles and antiques.
With school starting this week, Angel Pilcher said many families are out looking for clothes for school.
"Why spend a fortune on clothes when you can find something that's used," she said.
Pilcher set up a garage sale over the weekend with Connie Anderson. They said combined garage sales work well because they have more items to draw people to the sale.
Pilcher and her daughter, Kathleen, often buy clothes at garage sales.
"They grow up so fast," Angel Pilcher said. "There's no need to buy everything new."
