When I wanted to donate a sofa and matching loveseat that were in very good condition, I contacted…read moreHabitat and left an email message. I received an email back in a reasonable amount of time considering how busy they must be. The person in charge of donations asked me to send a photo (which is totally understandable) before pick up was approved. Shortly after, an appointment time was set for pick up. I had the furniture placed in the garage as requested. The truck came within the designated time, and furniture was taken to the truck efficiently. I would say it was "professional operation." When it was picked up, one of the two men said, "This furniture is in great condition. Thank you for your kind donation and for thinking of us." I was happy to donate to a good cause and will continue to do so. Three years ago we donated oak kitchen cabinets when our kitchen was remodeled. I saw that they were sold for $550. I was pleased to help an organization with such an outstanding mission.

This review is for ReStore, the store front for used furniture and recycled fixtures and appliances…read morethat Habitat for Humanity runs in downtown Schenectady. Habitat itself is an outstanding organization and does great work. The H for H offices are located on Pearl, so this should be recategorized in Yelp as Home Furnishings / Retail Furniture, not Contractor Services. First off, hours: Thursday 10-6, Friday and Saturday 10-3. Tip: if you come early on Thursday, you'll have your best chance of getting pick of the new stock for the week, since they're closed the other days but continue to collect donations. So this is basically a thrift store specializing in furniture. It's everything you'd expect from a place that runs on donations. The stock is not by any means new or in style, but they do a good job in filtering out items so you don't have any dirty or unusually smelly items. Some of the items I looked at were broken or had significant flaws, but they for the most part seem to have filtered out truly unusable stuff. They do have a little bit of everything, and the repurposed fixtures (including doors and windows) are probably the cheapest you'll find anywhere. I had a little difficulty at first getting appropriate help - there were many volunteers but they had to find the chief guy in charge to do pricing for me, and they kept asking me the same questions about the items I picked out (as to whether they belonged in a set or not, like that matters for very used furniture) - but it's hard to quibble with volunteers on the basis of the service. They tried, even if they weren't as organized about things as they could be. Be patient with this sort of thing if you go in. If Design on a Dime ever does a Schenectady show, they'll love it here. I have a lot of fun speculating about previous owners of many of these items. (I really got a hoot about the five-piece living room set I saw on my most recent visit, where there was a built-in Stereophonic Console in the corner table unit. 1966, here we come!!) I also urge you if you do go, round up on your purchases and throw the extra money into the donation kitty. This group builds houses for people, and does it in a way that brings the people who will live in the house and own it into the building process. It may be unfortunate that this is needed, but it is, and doing a little shopping here can help this effort while helping yourself. One caveat: from the blank expressions I got when I asked if they check for bed bugs on the furniture upholstery, I'm going to guess that they do not do their own screening here. So given the reality of bed bugs and older pieces of furniture, I urge you to check for yourself. This is true for any used furniture these days. Update: adding a fourth star after multiple visits - the stock really does zing in and out (well, some of it) and Thursday mornings are definitely your best bet. The second floor, which I neglected earlier, has miscellaneous small fixtures, lamps, plumbing stuff, and so forth.

I always go by here when I'm in Albany for work and loved it. Bought a bunch of stuff. But the…read moreowner's Facebook post...um..no.

Disappointing... mostly the owner. I have check it out and asked the owner for a specific item that…read moreI noticed he does have for sale but wanted to know if he got more of them, he said "Yeah we got some more" Great!...so I had a plan, so I need leave but will come back later to test/check out the items as I told him. I came back two days later, saw the items... and then he said "oh no... I don't sell them".. I was confused, he seem like he didn't want to talk with me, the another employee seem wasn't sure to answer me but kept saying we don't sell them. I'm not up for this and his attitude if he keeps changing his mind either to sell or not to sell, I don't have time for people like him who keep changing their mind and etc if you get to know him more... but people, don't waste your time going there, its his storage room... not an business. Good luck!

Words that I would use to characterize this place might be "quaint" or "quirky", but I am not sure…read moreexactly how to describe it. It is located inside a couple's actual house, and they appear to live on premises. I contacted them several times about a custom glass repair job and when I finally got through they were helpful but many times the phone just rang or it went to an odd voicemail. Their hours are also quirky (M/W/F/S, 12-5) and I would strongly not recommend showing up at other times. Parking is in the back, and it is easy to miss the street entrance to their driveway. Then, you walk along the house and enter on the side. They advertise as an antiques store and I suppose they are, but when I walked in I found no rhyme or reason to their inventory. Some stuff was really nice, and other stuff was country kitsch. Moving about inside was cramped and in fact I didn't explore everything because it just seemed so awkward. I felt like I was imposing on their home. That all being said, they are friendly. If you have a sense of adventure, this might be a fun place to go to.

Wow, what a very nice place to shop and browse. Very clean and organized. Easy to navigate through…read moreall the rooms and booths. Lot of items, a little pricey but some bargains available if you look. When we checked out saw that they were recognized as the best of the best. I can see why.

Love this place. It's is a lot bigger than I expected. The rooms wind on and on til you are back…read moreto the front. There's a good variety of items through the shop and a lot of well designed and displayed booths. I had a lot of fun shopping here and will definitely be back to check on my favorite booths.

This guy is great at what he does !!! I've brought several primitive jugs in to him and had lamps…read moremade . He's drilled the bottom of the jug beautifully for the electrical chord and I have lamps !!! His pricing is very reasonable considering what he does. Reasonable amount of time from drop off to pick up !! Loyal customer !!!

A quaint shop alone the main drag in Ballston Spa. I was a bit surprised walking in, but it was…read morealso clear this was a professional lamp repair shop. I had a lamp base that required wiring, a cap, harp and shade. Imagining it would be staggeringly expensive, particularly since this shop has no competition in the Capital Region, I was floored by how reasonable the costs were. The turnaround was a month, which factoring the need to order parts I thought was quite reasonable. Picking up the lamp I was quite pleased by how it turned out. A total win. The downside (from my personal convenience) was that it required a long round trip (twice) to get the project done. I was simply thrilled, however, to find the shop in a feasible proximity. The two times I have been there I have found parking immediately in front of the store, despite the rest of the downtown being densely packed (quite the luck since a pub is next door.) Driving in from the Northway the shop is on the other side of the street, and in light of dense and aggressive traffic finding the opportunity to turn around is challenging. This shop is a seriously nice find. Were I at a point in life where I didn't have a house packed full, I might have looked at the many antiques for sale (Very late 19th/early 20th century) I have another lamp I need to get rewired, but I think I'll wait till Spring; driving into Ballston Spa while scenic, is a bear.

Lots of large furniture on the bottom level - which was fun to look at. There is even a small…read moreroom full of all different clocks. Don't miss the stairs - the second floor has more shopping. I actually found the store's built-ins and display furniture fascinating and liked looking at those pieces as well.

Great selection of vintage wood furniture .. prices are very fair . We drive 2 hours a few times a…read moreyear to check it out

Man, do I love talking to actual people. Specifically, Cindy at Ruby & Quiri…read more If you're in the market for appliances, if you're lucky you have two choices: local shop, or big box store. In my experience, you're going to be a lot happier with the local shop. Ruby & Quiri is no exception. When you order from a Home Depot or a Lowe's, you have to go through their stupid websites and they'll tell you the next delivery date and then it'll probably be late and you have to call for over an hour to find an actual person and wait longer while they find the right person... I've dealt with Ruby & Quiri twice now, for a fridge and then just recently a dishwasher, and they've done right by me each time. Last week, I called in and told Cindy what kind of dishwasher I was looking for and how I was in a time crunch. She was kind enough to walk me through what options they had, and then when they didn't have the exact one in stock, she went and talked to the folks on the floor and got me the floor model that matched my needs. She made sure it was in good condition, and then talked to the delivery folks who said they could throw it on a truck tomorrow even though the next delivery window was supposed to be the following week. This is the benefit of dealing with a local business. They want to make the sale, and they want to help you get what you want. I'll definitely be giving them my business again.

My husband insist on using this place for our business purchases. Every time we order something it…read moreis incorrect or they sell him some other machine that is not what we need they can't get what you ask for and when they can't they sell you something that you don't need or want. Every single purchase that we have attempted to made from here is incorrect or they sell you something that is clearly broken and does not work. Working with this business is the most frustrating experience I've ever had working with a business. We have had to return countless machines. I have a dryer that I still have to use that they brought me was supposedly new and has never worked from day one it throws constant error codes they cannot fix it they will not take it back. They seem like a good deal but it is inferior product and service!

Top notch service at L&M. Elise spent over an hour walking around the store with me describing…read morefeatures and specs on their whole range of appliances. I felt I could make an educated decision on what we needed, having come into the store with nearly zero research done. I was then given a discount for purchasing a package of appliances, and allowed to have my order stored for free while we awaited the completion of construction in our space. Elise and L&M are who I will recommend to all my friends and family hence forth!

Terrible customer service, after buying several expensive appliances over the past years--- Never…read morereceived $100 rebate that was supposed to be honored, (total purchase price on washer/dryer $1,700) called several times, they could care less!!! Much rather deal with Cocca's Appliances in Colonie, you will be treated like a "real customer"!!!