My invitation to Quincy Thrift came from someone who described it as her favorite thrift store. In…read moreunder one visit, it might just have become my favorite thrift store, of all thrift stores, and I've been to more than a few. I was one of "those people" rifling through the bins in Portland, OR in the mid aughts, and have made my wardrobe out of similar stores ever since. Quincy Thrift combines everything that makes a second hand retailer special: a curated selection of quality goods, tastefully and logically arranged and presented, priced to sell. In Quincy Thrift's case, "priced to sell" is actually quite an understatement. I picked up a woven hammock, locking briefcase, wool-lined leather vest, Tamrac camera bag, a strip of LEDs, large Playmate cooler, and a large ramekin -- all in good to great condition -- for under $40.
forty.
dollars.
...
I paid in cash, and even got a $0.50 piece in change. Traci with an 'i,' the store's sole proprietor, had anticipated my every thrift need, right down to my admiration for uncommon coinage.
A couple weeks later, when I needed a suitcase, and no one in town sold any new, I called Quincy Thrift on the off chance they had one. They had three, one large and two small.
"How much for the large one?" I asked. "Five bucks," she replied.
I'd been seeing if I could get an LL Bean Extra Large Adventure Duffle expedited to Quincy for what would have been over $100. Traci and her exceptional store did the trick for less than 5% of that cost.
There are a handful of places in the big wide world of American retail which I admire. A select few I count among my personal favorites. Of those, maybe one or two are businesses that impress me so much that I feel *indebted* *to* *them* for what they provide me, provide others, provide their communities. Quincy Thrift now sits atop that shortest of short lists. There will never again be a trip I take to the Sierras that does not include a stop in this store.
