The Best Way to Find Local Thrift Stores
While Goodwill Outlet Stores are great places to find deals, there are a lot of other local thrift stores where treasures can be found. Don’t forget that all the stuff at Goodwill Outlet Stores has already been on thrift store shelves. Outlet stores are where they go for a last-ditch effort to be sold before being disposed of. While you can still find plenty of treasures (we know this for a fact – check out our case studies), all the really good stuff was already sold at the Goodwill retail store. That’s why it is important to check out all thrift store locations, not just the outlets.
Find a Local Thrift Store Near You
The Benefits of Small Local Thrift Stores
You might be very surprised by what you’ll find in small, non-branded, thrift stores in your area. When a lot of people think about going thrift shopping, they will often think of the big brand stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army while overlooking the little stores. Therefore, you might see less competition at the smaller shops. There can be some really intense crowds at the bigger thrift stores.
In general, you don’t have to deal with that intensity in smaller shops. When you’re not dealing with pushing and shoving, you can take your time and find great deals. Some of the bigger brand thrift shops are NOT cheap. Not to say that smaller stores are going to all be cheap either, but they don’t have as much expense or pricing guidelines they have to abide by. Therefore, you can sometimes get things for half the price you would have to pay in the big brand thrift stores.
The Benefits of Big Brand Local Thrift Stores
The bigger, more well-known, thrift stores are great places to shop because they get a lot of donations and their inventory is constantly changing. You could stay in one thrift store for 2 hours and go through the entire store multiple times and find new items that just got put out.
Also, the bigger shops will often have rewards cards or coupons that can be used in the store. Most of the smaller shops do not have this benefit.
Returns. Sometimes we come across items that are flawed or don’t work. Most of the big thrift stores allow to to bring your item back within a few days for a refund.
Here are a few of the big box thrift stores that can be found nationally and regionally:
Savers & Value Village & Unique
The Savers family of stores is a for-profit, global thrift retailer offering great quality, gently used clothing, accessories and household goods. Our business model of purchasing, reselling and recycling gives communities a smart way to shop and keeps more than 650 million pounds of used goods from landfills each year. We also help more than 120 nonprofit organizations by paying them for donated goods, which supports their vital community programs and services. Our brands comprise Savers (in the U.S), Value Village (in the U.S. and Canada), Unique (in the U.S.), Village des Valeurs (in Quebec) and Savers Australia.
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.
St. Vincent de Paul
Inspired by Gospel values, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic lay organization, leads women and men to join together to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to those who are needy and suffering in the tradition of its founder, Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, and patron, St. Vincent de Paul.
Now Get Out There and Start Thrifting!
There are so many places to find good deals, whether you’re looking to resell or keep for yourself. Goodwill outlet stores are great places, but the smaller thrift shops and big brand thrift stores have a lot to offer as well. There are pros and cons to each location but with a little time and searching, you’ll find your favorite stores and great deals!