Thrift stores ?

IKE

IKE

Well-known Member
Location
Oklahoma....U.S.A.
For a couple years or so when I was growing up my mom, two younger stepsisters and myself lived in the housing projects and I can recall a lot of our clothing (used) came from thrift stores like St. Vincent de Paul, Goodwill, the Salvation Army etc.

I'm sure mom would have much rather bought brand new clothes for us but money was tight for a waitress with three kids living in the projects and she just did what she had to do to keep clothes on three growing kids.

There is a Goodwill or Salvation Army store in the little strip mall, right next to my barber, and I sometimes go in after my haircut and look around......if I buy anything at all it's usually a glass or coffee mug that has a unique / off the wall company logo on them.

Anybody else drop by a thrift store once in awhile ?
 

I LOVE thrift stores. You never know what little treasure you might find in one. :)

edited to add:
I'm a HUGE bargain hunter. I like to buy used things and repurpose them. I LIKE a LOT of used clothing. I bought a couch and love seat from my livingroom that is lovely & I'm sure it was expensive. It looks brand new. I bought it for 100 bucks. I bought a leather sofa set that looked brand new with a big overstuffed sofa, loveseat, chair, and ottoman- 300 bucks. Yep I love used stores. I hate malls though. If the thrift store is in a mall..I won't go
 
Yes, my favourite is the one run by the hospital Auxillary. Beautiful stuff, often brand new. I have bought many lovely outfits there. Other things also, including leather sketcher shoes. Fifteen dollars, mint condition. Hundred bucks new.
 

I shop at them fairly regularly, mostly to buy household items and "just because" gifts for the grandkids. Recently I have been buying flat sheets there, all kinds of colors and prints, which I use to make blankets. My granddaughter and I plan to buy pillow cases and make stuffed animals out of them. So "thrifting" is not only a great way to find bargains, but also to buy cheap materials for cool projects.
 
The thrift store the next town over is a treasure trove. There's a bunch of colleges nearby so you find the trendy labels for like $5 for a pair of jeans that were $60 new...works for me.;)
 
Most of my clothes come from resale and consignment shops. I enjoy "the hunt"........anybody can go to the mall and pay top dollar for an outfit, but, oh, "the hunt" for a bargain! Monday I got a beautiful beaded Ralph Lauren t-shirt that looks like it has never been worn for $1.99 and two other new-looking t's for 99 cents each. Now, there's a bargain!
 
I stop by a Goodwill, or Salvation Army store 2 or 3 times a year...looking for work pants. I tear up pants regularly putzing around in the woods...chainsawing, etc. I can usually find 4 or 5 pairs a year that fit, and wind up paying perhaps $2 each....beats paying 20 or 30 bucks at a store. On the flip side, my wife constantly buys new clothes, and her closets (plural) regularly overflow. At least once a year, she fills a couple of large trash bags with items she no longer likes, and we take them to the SA or Goodwill....many of them having been worn/washed once.
 
I check out consignment shops and thrift stores every now and then. Occasionally I find a super good deal! [ like a Coach purse, like brand new, for $20 ] Whee!! I do check out purses always. And tchotchkes that appeal to me for some odd reason. And one of a kind wine glasses. And Gloria Vanderbilt jeans!
 
There's a thrift store in our little [rural] town; I stop by there maybe once a month- particularly when they hold a "swap meet" where members of the community pay the store a nominal fee to bring their yard sale/garage sale wares.

I bought a cool little foot stool with a needle point covering and queen anne style legs.


I am still looking for a decent priced salt water fishing poll, that's in good shape.
 
I shop at thrift stores all the time. As others have said, you can find really good deals. We found my sister a very nice table and chairs for almost nothing, and I regularly buy jeans, etc. at thrift stores.
 
I shop in Opp shops as we call them in Australia ,in fact Adelaide ( Capitol city of South Australia) has thrift shop bus tours which are quite popular with locals and visitors. I recently bought a brand new cushion in the opp shop with a hole in the back part ( sorry don't know proper name) used for when you have a sore tail bone ..as I have from collapsing in Oct last year ...I had constructed one from an normal sleeping pillow as I couldn't afford the price tag $65 plus postage .of exactly the same as I got in the opp shop $2
About 12 months ago I bought 18 mtrs of Actil sheeting ( not used) for next to nothing .$8 ....I made 2 pairs of queen size sheets out of the fabric ..( Actil sheeting used to be made in Adelaide)
 
Too bad the shelter groups around us don't try that idea for fund raising. So many empty store fronts around here. The best thrift shoppy idea was in small town PA. The women's center had a huge wraparound front porch. People from town were welcome to drop off clothes, furniture, anything you could imagine. One time I found a playhouse complete with dolls and furniture. I knew a bunch of folks who furnished whole apartments from that porch. Sadly neighbors started complaining when some clients were pigs. They would root through clothes and leave them in piles, throw cigarette butts in the bushes. So they had to shut it down, but for some areas it's a nice idea.
 
We have a couple of very big opp ( thrift shops ) in Adelaide run by the Diabetes Occasion..They are actually run by paid staff members , not volunteers as in the likes of the salvos ,Adra ,Red cross and others
 
With my low income I should shop at thrift stores. There is a relatively new one not far from me. I want to go in and look around. I have to stop charging clothes online and paying through the nose for them.
 
Yes it's just about devoting a couple hours to snoop out some real finds. A pair of brand name bedroom slippers that double as clogs. Warm, cozy, comfy, $3.99:)
 
Ruthanne, you really should. If you look around, you can find stuff good as new, or even new. You just have to keep looking around. Most of the thrift stores where I live also now have a "senior day" where seniors can get 30% off. I've found really nice things in thrift shops.
 
I drop into them too from time to time, we have salvation army, consignment stores and one called Value Village. V V has some of the best stuff for costumes. I once purchased a neon pink fuzzy vest from there for a 70's theme bowling night.
 
I like them just not the ones in my area,, the quality of what people donate to these stores is stuff I would place in the dumpster. There was a fantastic thriftstore I used to shop at in Tampa, maybe one day I'll get to shop over there again.
 
Butterfly said:
Ruthanne, you really should. If you look around, you can find stuff good as new, or even new. You just have to keep looking around. Most of the thrift stores where I live also now have a "senior day" where seniors can get 30% off. I've found really nice things in thrift shops.
Click to expand...
I am going to Butterfly. Just don't know when yet. I bet I can find a lot of cheap stuff there. :)
 
I'm not a big fan of Salvation Army shop (lotsa junk there), but we have several others that are pretty good -- the Humane Society one and one called Savers and one called Thrift Town. They are affiliated with charities, and several consignment shops.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top