It may be dating myself, but I remember picking up a threadbare peacoat with a shredded lining for…read morea ten spot back in...well, back when they were out near the flea market. Loved that coat, til I lost it in a bar on St. Paddy's in Boston. I weep for that coat...
In those days, they were all about turnover and donations and great mens' clothes in women's wearable sizes. They did a good job of sorting the crap out, stocking stuff people actually wanted to purchase and tossing (or recycyling - dunno) the rest.
These days, they're located in a huge house across from First Federal Savings Bank, next to a house that is also associated with pet protection in some way, though I'm not entirely sure how. And all the fra-fra makes its way in the doors, it seems.
They're fairly cranky about shoppers now, though, and by that, I mean...it doesn't really seem like they want anyone to come in the shop. They certainly don't want you to do so with any sort of extraneous items (per signage), whether your wallet, cell, or whatever, but even when I've left my purse / bag in the car, I'm not sure I've ever gotten anything other than a suspicious scowl when I walk in, despite keeping my hands clear at all times and turning anything I want to buy in to the cashier nearly as soon as I touch it. And they're pretty...um...verbal about their crankiness.
Their pricing these days is fairly cray-cray, especially considering that their items are donated. The items that they like (whether they're actually valuable or not) are up-priced, which inevitably means that most "statement" decor items or things that would otherwise be au courant, stick around in the shop forever. Don't even bother with anything in a case - it's been there for years, and for a reason.
ETA: Per a nasty message I received, ten spot is more - well - editorial usage than the eighteen dollars plus tax I spent on my wrecked, now lost, well-loved pea coat. I know exactly how much I spent on it, as I went without lunch money for a month to pay for it and it kept me as warmish as I could expect from a threadbare coat with no lining for 18$ plus tax for six years. So, maybe, reign in the judgement and belligerence, K? As, after all, it was a shredded piece of clothing no one but a broke-ass punk kid could get away with wearing in public, from jump. And it was 1991.
I truly wish the owner's comments were still available here (from her removed review of her own shop) as there is no better indication of how little she esteems her customers than her own sentiment (though there are also several "not recommended" reviews that seem completely legit, that leave a distinct impression on this topic - including belligerent response to a child shoplifter - really. SMH.). I've donated entire rooms-full of tchotchkeys, antiques and homegoods to this place...and have been treated like a convicted, tagged and tattooed shoplifter every time I walk through the door. I dealt with it because I wanted to help animals locally and felt this was my only option, despite it all.
It's good news that they make over 2 mil on gaming as reported to the state - because they should close their shop, which appears of late to be an intentional profit sink at around 1% of that (gross), minus operational costs (they use this shop to justify staffing and other overhead costs).
I no longer feel obligated to deal with their nonsense belligerence to contribute to the community after reviewing their public record filings. Done, done, done (both as a donor and a buyer - and for the record, I want organizations I care about to have money to use in the service of clients, not homegoods to dust in the hope of a purchase someday, by an idiot too stupid to know the value of things).
