Well, this is quite the unique thrift store. Especially for around this area…read more
Not many pictures are up online of this place. And the ones on Yelp that are up here are fake.
This is a Goodwill bin store, a very rare species of thrift where items are dumped off here, that don't sell at the local Goodwills the first time. From what I've heard, they have expressed putting another in Syracuse. Of course, you won't find anything like this in Buffalo. The Goodwill companies in Rochester/Syracuse and Buffalo are different.
But is it really a bad thing that we will never see one of these in our hometown?
To start off with the positive (the one positive), the price is unbeatable. And combine that with discounted thrift pricing, and you can stock up on really anything for cheap. Clothes, VHS, DVD, toys, books, games, video games, furniture, they have it all. I can also say that the service at the cash registers is okay. If you're nice to the cashier, they will give you the lowest price possible. That's kind.
However, there's a lot of bad mixed in here along with it.
The extremely low prices for anything, and the mystery of what will be in stock at the bin store, AND the fact that there ain't no way to call up to see if any specific item is in stock, means that there's a lot of bargain hunters here. And unlike the other normal thrift stores, they aren't your friends. They're here to snatch up the best items first before you can get your hands on them, no matter if it results in fighting customers or police being called.
The fact that it's downtown doesn't help the clientele. They're nasty.
One of the big negatives of my shopping experiences here was when I saw an NES system complete with wires, controllers, and games.
Yes, really. I said everything comes here.
The system was in a bin. A new bin, being brought out onto the sales floor.
The new bin wasnt in place yet. The silent rules of the shop state that a bin must be put in its proper place on the sales floor. Customers crowd around them. When the employee says "go!", it turns into a madhouse of grabbing and digging through the new bins.
The bin with the NES was sitting in the middle of the main walkway. I took an early look at what was inside and I saw it. No one else really had yet, besides a foreign man eyeing me down, to see if my temptations would get the best of me. They did not. I had come in to the store prior, knowing that its easy for customers to get out of control, and break the rules. And that can lead to trouble. I decided to legally let the bin be put in its spot so that I wouldnt get into trouble. The rules were rules.
A rabid, repeat offender shopper was in there with her boyfriend. She was waiting in the aisle where the bin was being placed. I followed the bin to try my best shot at getting the NES when it was time. She glanced over the bin with eagle eyes, until she got to the NES system. She yelled audibly, so that nearby shoppers could here, including me, "That's mine! I'm literally gonna fight anyone who tries to get it from me!"
Yes, really.
I didn't anticipate such hostility. What was I to do? Other people crowded around the new bin, as well, a usual event at the shop, blocking me out of reach of the NES, anyways.
The staff was too busy moving the bins to pay attention to my needs. I couldnt tell them about it, before the digging began and she snatched it.
I felt like a piece of submissive crap, because I followed the store rules.
They yelled go. I watched as the repeat offender lunged her body towards the NES and stuffed as many wires and controllers into her body as she could. Another shopper got the games. They were common NES games.
If an item like an NES comes out onto the sales floor while you are there, someone WILL do that to you. Guaranteed.
I talked to a store employee about that experience on a later visit in a calm manner. I was still pissed about missing out on the NES, though.
The employee didn't offer me much of a solution.
"Unfortunately, that's kinda how the store works. If two customers fight over an item, the cops are called. Or if one customer notifies an employee that they want the same item as a rabid shopper eyeing said item, the item is then taken out of rotation for today and placed in the back for tomorrow."
To quote Spongebob, that didn't help at all.
If you've got biceps, and you come to this store ready to punch the living crap out of someone over a video game system, then by all means, you might have a shopping advantage at this store compared to other shoppers that are just trying to be polite. And for a goddamn thrift store, that's just not right. (Bring a getaway car and driver, too.)
Five stars for price, one star for service and experience.