One of my latest projects is trying to go and collect all the books on one of my favorite book series- and before I start plumbing the depths of the abysses known as Amazon and eBay, I always make it a point to hit up the area thrift stores for books and bargains, and the local smattering of Goodwills are always one of my first stops.
It's clean, and there's not a lot of stuff really cluttering up the aisles, which is a really good thing- I admit to being one of the people most likely to fall over random junk in the aisles, so being able to move about the store is a great thing. There's also lots of space, and you never really feel like you're going to accidentally slam the cart into the shelves.
On the other hand, though... if you're looking for something absolutely specific, this really isn't the place for you. Goodwill's inventory changes every single day, and if you're not the first one there to dig through the new finds as they get tossed up onto the shelves, then you're just going to be out of luck- as is what happened to me. I couldn't find a single book, but we did find a nice coat that was a pretty nice buy for a family member who needed one!
If you're just out hunting for bargains, then this might be a good place to just take your time and rummage through the stuff on the shelves, and lots of what they have is pretty decent quality- the clothes on display were all clean and looked pretty good, but the books were unsorted, and not really in any semblance of subset- sci-fi, fantasy, modern day- you had to go shelf by shelf to see if there was anything there to buy. At least they split the books into hardcover/softcover...
My only other complaint here is that the books go all the way down to the ground- how is someone who can't bend over or is in a wheelchair supposed to be able to look at all the books, or even reach them without help? It might help if they had some bigger shelves for them so people didn't have to get down and lean over to see just what was in stock, and it might also help if they managed to sort everything by genre, too.
In the end, all I can really give this place is a three out of five. It's a thrift store, nothing more, nothing less. You'll have a hard time finding something specific, but if you're in the mood to dig, stop on in and see what you can find! read more