great thrift stores of america

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give up your secrets, people of ilx

― charltonlido (gareth), Monday, 21 March 2005 13:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Once upon a time, I would have said Domsey's Warehouse, but I suspect even that great institution has not survived the hipsterisation of Williamsburg. :-(

Even to this day, how many of my favourite clothes were purchased there...

― Masonic Cathedral (kate), Monday, 21 March 2005 13:32 (twenty-one years ago)

buy the pound on jarvis and king in toronto.
the sally ann in madison that i found a nudie suit for 20 bux
any ofthe ones on the outskirts of vegas, on the highway to laughlin

― anthony easton (anthony), Monday, 21 March 2005 13:34 (twenty-one years ago)

i figured nevada as great for thrift stores, i didnt get a chance to look though really

― charltonlido (gareth), Monday, 21 March 2005 13:50 (twenty-one years ago)

"give up your secrets, people of ilx"

NO WAY!

gareth, are you in the states? yoo should stop by. i'll play yoo that mystic moods rekkerd.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 21 March 2005 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

im going to be in VA, wont be able to make it up to MA this time, to the special thriftstore haven island!

but...future trips, i must know, all across the land, where are the special thriftstores?

― charltonlido (gareth), Monday, 21 March 2005 14:08 (twenty-one years ago)

i always thought that someone should pay me to develop a zagat-like guide to thrift stores in the u.s. i don't know how you would make it manageable.

gareth, when yoo get to where you are going pick up a phone book and look under *thrift* and then just go to all the salvation armies and goodwills listed there. or call them and ask them if they sell lots of records.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 21 March 2005 14:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Both ragstock locations in chicago are pretty good. Easy to find cheap coats there.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Monday, 21 March 2005 14:25 (twenty-one years ago)

i think, actually what might be more pressing, is great thrift stores of ITALY! but, im not going to italy just yet. but, soon, maybe

― charlton lido (gareth), Monday, 21 March 2005 14:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Unique Thrift in Louisville Kentucky used to be unbelievably awesome. It's still good, but it used to rule. I believe they do still have the used prosthetic limbs hanging from the ceiling . . .

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Monday, 21 March 2005 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

not imporvershied or near-impoverished ppl shoudl not shop at thrift stores.

thank you.

― buyer, Monday, 21 March 2005 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

how do i know if i'm imporvershied?

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 21 March 2005 16:08 (twenty-one years ago)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/etienne_saint/pwn.jpg

― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Monday, 21 March 2005 16:10 (twenty-one years ago)

not imporvershied or near-impoverished ppl shoudl not shop at thrift stores.

thank you.

Why? What's your reasoning? Places like Good Will use their sales revenues to help people who need it. By purchasing clothings etc. from Good Will, and most other thrift stores, you enable them to continue to reach out. Why would you limit shopping there to poor people? Are you afraid that rich people will snatch up all the good deals? Unlikely. Doesn't seem to be any shortage of used clothing donations.

This is like saying that you shouldn't vacation in Southeast Asia out of respect for the tsunami victims.

― GoodWillJunkie, Monday, 21 March 2005 16:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Savers in Redwood City used to be amazing. I don't know if it still is. There seem to be a ton in downtown St Louis, but I can't remember any of their names (they might have all been standard Goodwill, Salvation Army places.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 21 March 2005 16:14 (twenty-one years ago)

GWJ OTM. Everyone should shop at thrift stores.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 21 March 2005 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

i am fucking impovrished

― anthony, Monday, 21 March 2005 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I lurve thrift stores. I still miss the Brown Elephant in Andersonville (hi, Jeff!). Gay neighborhood, mens clothing, $5 for a shirt. You do the math.

― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Monday, 21 March 2005 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Clothes that don't sell in thrift stores are then shipped overseas where they are still SOLD to really poor people. That's part of the reason why you see pictures of refugees in Americanized t-shirts for hardware stores and relay races and crap.

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 21 March 2005 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Some of the best ones are off the beaten path.

When I lived in Lincoln, NE, there were a number of great thrifts.

There are a couple in NW Indiana that I like.

But Unique in Uptown is always pretty good, even though it's right in Chicago.

There is a book called Rag Street Journal that lists tons of thrifts and resale shops across the country.

― Shatterproof Glass (dymaxia), Monday, 21 March 2005 16:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i always thought that someone should pay me to develop a zagat-like guide to thrift stores in the u.s. i don't know how you would make it manageable.

Dude, start a wiki. Except you don't get paid. You'd probably want to expand it to cover all kind of junk shopping, like the MIT flea and shit.

Good wikis:

Memory Alpha - Star Trek wiki
Wikipedia

― Dr. Eldon Tyrell (ex machina), Monday, 21 March 2005 17:13 (twenty-one years ago)

i go to them all the time. whoever said "not imporvershied or near-impoverished ppl shoudl not shop at thrift stores" is completely insane. my favorite in southeastern pennsylvania right now is the Barn Attic (Route 113, 324 Harleysville Pike, Harleysville PA 19438 -- 215-256-9305); around Philly you should also definitely not skip the Salvation Armys in Manayunk and Quakertown. (There are many, many lesser ones -- three or four in Germantown alone -- but those are my favorites right now.) In the last few months I've also been to really good ones in northern Ohio, Pittsburgh, and on Route 1 between Baltimore and DC; Scott's yellow pages advice is very smart. In NYC (where everything tends to be overpriced and hipsters tend to snatch up the cool weird stuff way too quick), I haven't had much luck. But what I really want to investigate sometime soon is Staten Island, where I have heard rumors of great ones all over the place. Any grid-cooridnate-style info on ones there would be humongously appreciated.

― xhuxk, Monday, 21 March 2005 17:18 (twenty-one years ago)

www.savers.com
www.satruck.org

Lots and lots of Episcopal churches have secret thrift shops in the basement of the parish hall. The one next to the National Cathedral in Washington DC has a great thrift downstairs that most people, including the local hipsters, don't seem to know about. They're usually only open a few days a week, though. Google your city or state and Episcopal and "thrift shop."

― daria g (daria g), Monday, 21 March 2005 19:56 (twenty-one years ago)

that sounds great. i've always wanted to spend time in the basements of american church. particularly polish or ukranian american churches. i dont really know why, but i do

― charltonlido (gareth), Monday, 21 March 2005 20:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Las Vegas, NV has some fantastic thrift stores. Central California has some good hunting too

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Monday, 21 March 2005 21:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Alex in SF, you are OTM about that Savers- that place is righteous.

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Monday, 21 March 2005 23:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I've never really looked at the shirts in the Brown Elephant. I've only bought ratty chairs there. I will change that!

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Monday, 21 March 2005 23:14 (twenty-one years ago)

"Alex in SF, you are OTM about that Savers- that place is righteous."

Oh it's good to hear that it is still great. I will have to go back there then. Redwood City has a bunch of good cheap thrift shops.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 21 March 2005 23:16 (twenty-one years ago)

DOMSEY'S IS CLOSED!! I went there a few weeks ago, in about a foot of snow. The parking lot hadn't been trod on by anyone, it was just windswept snowdrifts and a couple of tractor trailers. A sign on the door trumpeted NEW HOURS: OPEN ON SUNDAY and another said VISIT OUR NEW LOCATION IN NEW JERSEY.

Beacon's closet on 5th Ave in Park Slope Brooklyn gets rave reviews from all my friends and I like the clothes in there even though they're all for women. I try on the jeans sometimes but they never fit. :(

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 06:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Brown Elephant, Ragstock, and any other place in the belmont-clark area are way overpriced. Village and Unique are where it's at.

― ()ops (()()ps), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 06:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, even the Village on Halsted still turns up good stuff for me.

Brown Elephant stinks, IMO. I know it's a good charity and all, but they have loads of tacky stuff. Sometimes I find shoes there, but I'd rather just get good $hoes at a proper re-sale place in Lincoln Park.

― Shatterproof Glass (dymaxia), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

In addition to Salv. Army and Goodwill--which are thankfully plentiful--Los Angeles also has a chain called 'Out of the Closet' supporting AIDS charities. Often much good stuff. Also American Federation of Jewish Women or something like that has a number in L.A. Interestingly, in some neighborhoods, the people managing the shops know that some items cost A LOT more at retail and mark them up somewhat--like Lucky Jeans vs. Levis--but in other neighborhoods, they don't seem to realize and you find them for $4.

Economic-theory-speaking-wise, the cost of nice clothes at second hand tells you a great deal about the inherent value of the item with the cost of branding removed.

― GoodWillJunkie, Tuesday, 22 March 2005 16:27 (twenty-one years ago)

All LA thrift stores that I have been are great.

― Victor Mackulous (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

i used to go to domsey a lot! good times, good times.

― i love scotch, scotchy scotch scotch (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 17:01 (twenty-one years ago)

>Beacon's closet on 5th Ave in Park Slope Brooklyn gets rave reviews from all my friends<

Yeah, but isn't that, like, a "vintage" store aimed at hipsters (and isn't there in fact another one in Williamsburg?) Not near trashy enough. If you want 5th Ave Park Slope, try Salvation Army instead -- around 12th Street or so, I think. I've found some okay stuff there.

― xhuxk, Tuesday, 22 March 2005 17:37 (twenty-one years ago)

The prices are about the same, xhuxk, honestly. The shirts in Beacon are like $4-$12. And yeah they've got a bunch of probably Pitchfork-approved records in the front which I always thumb through and never find anything I want, it's aimed squarely at that kind of thing but who cares? The clothes are cheap and they've actually been somewhat sorted through. I've taken clothes there to sell and they've taken maybe a quarter of them. The Salv Arm is pretty hit and miss. That was the great thing about Domsey's is that it was essentially the same stuff you'd find at the Arm but multiplied by a power of fifty, so you were always bound to find something good, and for like half the price, especially if you slogged through the giant unsorted holding pens of clothes and bought by the pound.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 17:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay, thanks, maybe I'll give it another chance sometime; can't judge a book etc....So wait, was Domsey's that GIGANTIC garage-like place, on the outskirts of Williamsburg? I did go there a couple times, but when places are THAT big and cluttered and caked in dust, I gotta admit I find them intimidating. My mold allergies start to get a little squeamish if I have to plow through boxes and clothes aren't actually hung up on racks -- plus, I get bored quick when clothes- shopping; I don't have the patience for digging through shirts (and even more so pants, which are *always* boring to shop for, since shirts have personality and jeans are just, um, practical) if they're not hanging there right in front of my face. Though that never bugs me with records oddly enough. (The Pennsy Barn Attic I mention above has at least as much stuff, but spread over more floors, and actually on hangers, which makes things more user friendly than I remember Domsey's being. Assuming Domsey's is the place I'm thinking of.)

― xhuxk, Tuesday, 22 March 2005 17:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I am willing to pay an extra couple of dollars for a shirt or a pair of pants if it means not breathing in the crap in those gigantic bin clothing places. Let someone else sort that shit.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 17:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I forgot to mention Tucson. LOTS of good thrift stores there - some priced for the hipsters but quite a few absolute bargains.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 18:08 (twenty-one years ago)

drew, unique is still pretty good. they still have the prosthetic limbs and the super-giant ladies' underwear at the portland store, and a few velvet elvises, i think.

the secret salvation army in brooklyn near my house rules. think i'm going there thursday.

xpost - yeah i've heard arizona has good ones, but i've never had the chance to check.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 18:11 (twenty-one years ago)

You're definitely thinking of Domsey's, xhuxk. My enduring memory of that place - besides seeing a full circular rack of tuxedo jackets for $10 each - is of the long racks of T-shirts, which were organized by color. there would be like thirty green t-shirts that slowly got bluer and bluer as you walked along until you realized you were looking at the blue ones..

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 18:13 (twenty-one years ago)

"Unclaimed Baggage" and "Unclaimed Freight" in northeastern Alabama — where all the lost and unclaimed luggage (and its contents) from America's airlines go to find new homes.

― Curious George Finds the Ether Bottle (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 18:13 (twenty-one years ago)

wow!

― Dr. Eldon Tyrell (ex machina), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha holy shit. That my be the first good thing I've ever heard about Alabama.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha my gf just confirmed its existence. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE? I MIGHT HAVE CONSIDERED VISITING YOUR CRAZY INLAWS!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 18:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm going to try to start making monthly trips there. It's a 3+ hour drive for me, though.

― Curious George Finds the Ether Bottle (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 18:33 (twenty-one years ago)

i miss domsey's too. had a nice field trip there with the r0gers s!sters (pre-band) back in '97.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 18:38 (twenty-one years ago)

The best city I ever visited for thrifting was Ventura CA.

Red White & Blue in Hamilton NJ was always a favorite.

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 20:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Unclaimed Baggage" and "Unclaimed Freight" in northeastern Alabama — where all the lost and unclaimed luggage (and its contents) from America's airlines go to find new homes.

I was there in January and blogged about it.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 04:14 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

vegas must be good for thrift stores

― Friendly Tree (688), Monday, 5 February 2007 12:09 (nineteen years ago)

Jasper, Alabama has a main drag full of huge thrift stores. Planning a trip in late Feb.

― Tuesdays With Morimoto (Rock Hardy), Monday, 5 February 2007 14:13 (nineteen years ago)

The Whosoever Gospel Mission Thrift Store in Philadelphia is very good, and has a lot more character than most.

Another excellent one is the Unique thrift in Fairfax, VA. The clothes are actually organized by size rather than color! If you're coming from DC, you can hit the two Goodwills in Arlington and the one at Seven Corners on the way to Unique.

― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Monday, 5 February 2007 16:46 (nineteen years ago)

Knoxville - AM-VETS

― Elsa Svitborg (tracerhand), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:40 (nineteen years ago)

I was very impressed with the Goodwill stores in Florida. Maybe because people go there to die, maybe because I'm loving old-lady clothes now. Peach-colored cardigan! YEAH!

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, 5 February 2007 19:07 (nineteen years ago)

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