The Spare Room

When this place was recommended to me by a very fashionable friend, I was so excited to check out this store in Bonita out. I am so glad I did!
The selection of both contemporary and vintage clothing is excellent and very well curated. Everything is clearly marked and impeccably organized by size and silhouette. The prices are reasonable… much less than retail but still more expensive than a true thrift store. The price points are similar to a Flashbacks, yet I found the selection and quality superior to Flashbacks/​Buffalo Exchange. The Spare Room also offers a reward program you can opt into for free where you get a $ 5 store credit for every $ 100 spent. I also appreciated that I was given a coupon to use for a return visit. I can see why they have such a loyal customer base. While I was shopping, I noticed the woman working greeting fellow customer by name as they walked in. Such a quaint shop!
Just be sure to try on every item and be sure that you love it before you buy since all sales here are final.

Jennifer is so fair, professional and nice to talk to. Will continue to consign my clothes and accessories here. The Spare Room is the gem of Bonita!

Working in retail, I’ve found my closet to be overflowing with purchases. Rather than donating the whole lot, I figured I would find a consignment shop and turn my gently-​worn clothes to cold, hard cash. Having less-​than-​positive experiences in similar shops in La Jolla, I was happy to find The Spare Room during an internet search. Since I have friends in the South Bay, I can take care of business and then go have lunch!
Jennifer is a delight to work with and I appreciate her professionalism. I call or e-​mail ahead to make an appointment and then bring my stuff in for her perusal. If you’re considering a consignment, there are a few things to keep in mind. Clothes have to be hung and steamed. (I do a quick steam before I bring things in.) She will choose what’s best for her clients so don’t bother bringing «fast fashion» juniors apparel or fake leather stuff. If you have bridge or higher-​end merchandise, this place is for you. She accepts things seasonally and will let you know. On a recent trip, she set aside some accessories and asked me to bring them back in a couple of months when she accepts warm-​weather items. Most important, when you consign, you are entering into a 90-​day agreement, where your items will be discounted after 30 and 60 days, i.e., don’t expect to see any money for at least three months. You can remove items from consignment at any time and anything left over 90 days gets removed from the sales floor and donated if you don’t claim them. You can use your credit to make a purchase in the store. I found a great hat for $ 12 that will be incorporated into a future steampunk outfit. For more specifics, please talk to Jennifer. Happy shopping!

Accompanied my mom because she wanted to find somewhere that will hopefully sell her gently used clothes. Went right when they opened and she was greatly helped by Jennifer. Jennifer explained to my mom how consignments shops sometimes worked, looked through her clothes and thoroughly checked which items are most likely to sell. She even suggested a place in la mesa that might take the rest of the unselable clothes. Jennifers customer service really gave me and my mom a positive first time experience and we may come back.

I have to say this place has a nice selection of items fitting most budgets. i did buy a few items and the clerk was vary helpful… Good work guys

I love this place. I drop off my unwanted clothes and turn around and buy «new» clothes with the credit (or you can take the cash). I don’t always find something but I do often enough to make it worthwhile. They have really good markdowns too. I really like that they donate any items not sold within a certain time period. (Or you can have them back).

Love, Love, Love the Spare Room… Jennifer has the best deals. I outfitted myself for a trip to Washington DC and just love to mill around to see what treasures I can find at a fraction of retail prices. Also, Jennifer will be glad to sell your gently used clothing, purses, shoes for you and she splits the profit with you ⁶⁰⁄₄₀. What a deal! Stop in and look around, you will not be disappointed. Also, try one of the many great restaurants while visiting the area… I had lunch at the Sapphire Lounge — great place for salads/​beer/​wine and watching sports on one of the many TV’s. A perfect afternoon for a ladies outing!

The owner here is nice, honest and straightforward in the little experience I have with her. I have no complaint. Not 5 stars only because I wish the split were better than ⁴⁰⁄₆₀.

~^**The Spare Room is the rare gem in the Bonita & Chula Vista areas**^~
I usually drive out of town to find the best resale shops, but thanks to the fellow Unilocalers, I learned about the Spare Room, which is right here in my neighborhood. Who knew?!
Right when I walked in, I found a wide assortment of clothes, shoes, purses, jewelery, and hats. All of which are organized based on type and color. Most importantly, the items are high-​quality, designer, and vintage for extremely cheap prices. (Seriously, there are Gucci bags for half price). I am so glad I visited this cute, little shop because there were so many interesting, rare coats and blouses, I had a hard time deciding what to buy. I ended up getting a stylish zip-​up jacket that easily goes with my casual and business wear. This shop is now my first choice for when it’s time to refresh my wardrobe.
Also, the owner is very upbeat and personable. You can definitely tell she loves what see does, which is another refreshing aspect of this Bonita treasure.
I love the Spare Room, and for those of you reading this, I know you all will love it too.

I live in L.A., but my parents live nearby and I always make a point to come to the shop on my visits home. It took me a few times to really find my groove with this shop because I think when you’re at a consignment shop, your first thought is that you’re going to be something really cheap. But this isn’t that kind of shop — you could sort your way through racks at thrift stores if you’re really looking for a huge steal. This is a well-​managed shop with quality brands in great condition. It’s more like consistently saving money over time rather than finding an Anthropologie shirt for $ 3 at a thrift store.
I do my shopping exclusively at The Spare Room, Crossroads, and another upscale thrift shop in Long Beach.
And, as others have mentioned, the owner is one of the nicest and most helpful you’ll ever meet — and never, ever pushy. Sometimes I buy nothing and sometimes I buy lots.
My only wish is that the store was bigger!

I was finally able to make a trip down to The Spare Room to check it out after searching for reviews for Buffalo Exchange and this little gem popped up in my search results.
The review that sold me was Blanca’s, especially when she mentioned they carried Sweet Pea. I actually ended up buying a Sweet Pea top for $ 22 + 25% off as well as a Lux button-​up tanktop for $ 20 (originally from Urban Outfitters w/​an original $ 38 price tag) during my first visit. I also saw a «The Sak» macramé purse for $ 20, which is pretty good considering that The Sak bags can be $ 50-​$ 80 or more at department stores and on their website.
I’d say that about a good majority of the clothing (at the time of my visit) were Talbots and Jones New York-​like brands. There were pieces here and there from bebe, Free People, Sweet Pea, Lux, and dress shoes from Steve Madden.
It is quite a drive away from Mira Mesa but I can’t wait to come back and see what «new» items the store has to offer!

I finally popped my head into The Spare Room this afternoon before I met some girlfriends for happy hour at Ono’s next door. I remember seeing this shop featured in a recent Weekly Unilocal that was focused on Chula Vista and it peaked my curiosity after I read the handful of reviews. I’ve also heard really good things about this shop, so it was time for me to check it out for myself.
The first thing that caught my eye of this consignment store was the $ 5 dollar rack right outside by the entrance. There were probably twenty to twenty-​five pieces, all in excellent condition. I scored on a new Army green colored mini skirt that still had the other store’s $ 36 original price tag it was purchased from before it made its way to The Spare Room (and now in my closet).
If I had more time to look through every rack, I probably would have done a lot more damage in there. For now, I walked away with a cute mini skirt that fits perfectly (I didn’t try it on while I was still at the store) and a pair of eye-​catching, never worn, Franco Sarto wedge heel sandals all for $ 25 buckaroos.
I’m really diggin’ this shop. I love that it has an Anthropologie style without the Anthropologie prices. The style of most pieces are hot-​cute, what I look for when I like to play dress up.
I need to go back here and see what else I can find to spice up my wardrobe. It reminds me of the shops in San Francisco I love going to with my cousin whenever we go on our shopping trips, but The Spare Room is conveniently located less than ten minutes away from my home. Yay!

A tad pricey for vintage shopping but overall a very nice feel to it. Never packed so you feel freedom in taking your time and coming across good finds. I found a really cool red slouch beanie for $ 9(pretty steep for a used hat i’d say but it was on my essentials list!) and $ 30 vintage ralph lauren oxfords!
They have a really weird return and buying policy that was explained to me by the owner and still didnt get: S In addition to that the owner is extremely nice and if you look around I believe CityBeat or another one of those San Dieog magazines they have a coupon for 30% off an item or other.. . I think: D

***Check out her booth at Bonitafest happening this Saturday, ⁹⁄₂₆. Hopefully I’ll see some of you Unilocalers there if I can get someone to cover my shfit that day!***
The Yorkie is not for sale. I repeat, not for sale.
Visit this charming little consignment store for unique designer pieces that range from Gucci, Free People, BCBG… the list goes on. You’ll love the store owner (she has a fantastic fashion sense) as well as her sweet little Yorkie sidekick. The décor has so much personality that I started mentally taking notes on copping her style for my own place ;) And it smells good in there too, like a strawberry field, not musty and gross like Buffalo Exch…
I picked up 2 stylish Free People items: a cream tank top that had beautiful red beaded embellishments down the bodice and a short ruffled cornflower blue skirt that I plan on wearing as a top under a jacket. Also snatched up this really cool hair accessory that I plan on rocking tomorrow at work: it’s basically a black fabric zipper fashioned into a rose, edgy yet romantic at the same time. Lastly, I purchased a super-​cute black daisy ring with smoke-​colored rhinestones in the center and a ladybug hanging on the edge of one of the petals. I freakin’ love this ring. I tried on a sleeveless black Missoni top that sadly didn’t fit thanks to my eating binge a few days ago… boo. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all.
How much did I pay for all of these treasures? Less than $ 60. Score!
5 big fat stars for The Spare Room. Fabulous designer and vintage finds at reasonable prices. What woman (or man, «haaaaay») doesn’t love that?

I found this place on my way to Ono’s Café and ended spending more time in there than eating dinner…
The owner is so sweet and chic… she really has the most amazing collection of vintage and consignment.
I’ve never walked into a place where I literally liked at least 60% of the stuff… forreals it was amazing how so many things in there were beautiful… and SO SO SO SO reasonably priced. On top of that the stuff I bought happened to be 50%-75% so my Spare Room total haul came out to be $ 60 for a vintage suit, a blazer, a vintage silk dress, and designer shoes. Very very lovely.
Plus it’s not as grimey as Buffalo… you don’t really have to dig thru the racks of clothes because everything is so neatly set up and all sorts of shoes are laid out on the floor.
All in all it’s a fun store and totally worth the visit if you are not in the Bonita area. gogogogogogogo!
ps her little puppy is a friendly licker :)

What a sweet store. The owner is so nice and her Yorkshire terrier is the cutest thing. I spent far too long cooing over and petting the dog. Her consignment policies are totally reasonable. There were some nice things in the consignment section (but never in my size because that’s just my life). She has a fabulous selection of sample clothing and all the jewelry is new. Some of the jewelry is made by designers and sold at Anthropologie for 5 – 10 times as much as she prices them. She also only buys 1 or 2 of any piece of jewelry, so it won’t be something you’ll be seeing all around San Diego like if you bought it at a chain store.

This shop just opened recently…
Unique ladies clothing, shoes and accessories from various stores and brands (i.e. Anthropologie, Saks, Bloomingdales, Nordstroms, 7 for Mankind, Tokidoki, True Religion, Urban Outfitters). Clothes are neatly kept, and nicely displayed. Even the displays are cute and easy to browse through. The shop, including the dressing rooms, is very clean. Clothes accepted for consignment have to be clean. Easy to find on Bonita Road, right next to Ono’s Café, with lots of parking. Very friendly and personal customer service. Can’t wait for my next trip there :)