Salvation Army Family Store

Mostly raggedy clothes with stains, holes etc. An occasional item or two to wear when at home, or playing sports. Overpriced for the most part as well. Feels like a hospital morgue inside.

I am mainly writing this to thank the kind cashier who was there today (Wednesday ⁵⁄₁₁ at 6pm). She saw an elderly lady forcefully try to cut me in line shoving her items on the counter before the previous customer was finished. The cashier kindly told her that I was in line first even when the rude customer tried to argue. She handled the situation peacefully and gracefully and I would like to thank her for being fair.
On the shopping note, I found a Maggy London dress (Nordstrom) for an upcoming wedding. Since it is 50% off on Wednesdays, it was only $ 4.49! The store is dingier than say the Goodwill next door, but you can’t beat the prices especially on Wednesdays. I have found some gems that cost me only a few bucks.

We’re HUGE fans of what my family affectionately call the «Sally Vay». Consistent goodies, ridiculously inexpensive. I’ve discovered major treasures here at the SA 23^rd street outlet. Even though I’ve written about other locations, I’d be remiss if I did not speak about the fine staff at this place: especially Angela, a ‘sista’, who has a sharp eye for things she knows I like. Always helpful, even during hectic Wednesdays when the store is loony-​tunes crowded; Angie keeps her cool, takes care of business in the sweetest way! I found a Jaeger black and white tweed coat in superb condition. The following week another coat: purple and grey Giorgio Sant’ Angelo blanket plaid. My lucky streak continued, a THIRD find — a houndstooth blazer, with the lining pristine! That Jaeger BTW was out on the racks the day before the SA’s coat sale. Natch… I got greedy and glommed it ahead of time — which Angie and I agreed was wise, since ‘somebody will grab it real quick!” (Jaegers, a high end label sell online for like $ 400. I paid $ 20-something…whoa) Additionally, we are home caring our mother who at 94 has Alz dementia. Easy to put on clothing for her, like leggings, zip hoodies and soft shirts are (low priced), abundant at this store. We can dress mamacita in clean, comfy used apparel and not spend a fortune. Anybody who disses this terrific place is wrong to the bone. But hey, just as you please… more stuff for us SA savvies… ’cause we know better!

An average salvation army. A lot of empty space and empty racks though. No dressing rooms. Very dingy.

*** Review on donations only ***
I frequent this spot often to donate clothes. Easy donation area.

Agree with the other reviewers: do not waste your time with their donation pick up department. We scheduled our pick up to be Dec 12, but got a call from them on Dec 10 and said that they have to pick up now (and they lied and said it was scheduled for the 10), or the next available is Dec 27. We cannot pick up on Dec 10, so we said ok then Dec 27^th. Then I called them and tried to understand how come they just changed our time like that without any notice. The person who answered the phone refused to look into our original appointment and simply said «well I can see you have agreed to reschedule to the 27^th, so case closed» and then he hung up!
They are indeed irresponsible and rude. Please do not waste time with them.

as a collector of vintage sports and rock band tees, I hunt high and low… this ia the only thrift store in NYC — of any type — that has true thrift prices!
scored an ’86 Giants tee for a buck!!! clean, barely worn! score!!!

Please do not waste your time on using their donation pickup service. It is horrible. I scheduled a month in advance for them to pick up some furniture and clothes. I called the day before the pickup date to confirm. Then, on the day of the pickup, the driver called to reschedule the pickup to a month later. They are irresponsible and do not mind wasting your time.

I was trying to remember if this was the location with no dressing room or if it was another one. I see that another person mentioned no dressing room. I remember seeing a woman pull down her pants last year and try on some pants. She looked at herself in the mirror to see if it fit good. I guess if you don’t mind other people seeing your underwear then you might have to try on clothes in front of other people. If I saw a shirt or pants that were expensive and I thought might not fit I might do what the woman did and try them on in the mirror if it was a pretty color or looked nice. I visit New York from out of state, so it would be hard to return the pants if they don’t fit. I am not sure if you can return clothes anyway to salvation army. I know that the electronics you can’t return. I didn’t end up buying anything. It was nice to look around at the clothes though.

What is that smell?!? It is Salvation Army, so expect what you need to expect.

This place needs remodeling, cleaning, and better organization but besides that the selection of clothes are ok. Saw the men’s plus section was bigger than the last salvation army. Not much gems can be found here but I did found this gnarly tie dye hoodie and gap wool jacket. Less than 15 bucks for both. S’all good.
There are a few more thifts to check out on 23^rd if you want.

The granddaddy of thrift stores. the one on 23^rd street has seen better days. Things aren’t exactly organized, and some things don’t appear to have been cared for all that well. It can be shocking when you’re in the midst of visiting several thrift shops on Thrift Shop Lane.
The overall quality is lacking here, when you consider the number of alternatives.

I’ve found some good stuff for a decent price here — for example, I got a like-​new Banana Republic skirt for $ 5 that would cost about $ 70 if new. Overall, I think this is one of the better priced thrift stores on this stretch of 23^rd. Also, the staff were very nice to me when I was there. Plus, they have sales every day depending on the color of the price tag (e.g., Wednesdays are half off pink tags).

Major downgrade for being overpriced and for having obnoxious staff. Regarding the overpricedness: yesterday i saw an Eames Aluminum Group Management Group chair, not yet bearing a price tag, in good condition — minor scuffing to the leather on the sides of the chair, and broken casters, but other than that no issues. I was told it would be $ 160. I went home and pondered the purchase of this chair. I decided, with the help of friends on Facebook and Pintrest, to verify the authenticity of the chair and possibly purchase it. Before schlepping in to Manhattan for no good reason, I called to see if it were still there and verify the price. Today, the chair was $ 200. Still tempted, the high-​for-​Salvation Army price fueling my hope that I’d stumbled onto an amazing find — a chair that normally goes for about $ 750 used on eBay, I dashed into Manhattan to examine it. I spent about 45 minutes conferring with my boyfriend — he at home in front of a full-​sized monitor while I photographed the chair from multiple angles and sent him the photos, turned it upside down in search of an identifying label, measured it with a measuring tape I brought myself, and generally gave it a very thorough going-​over. As I was sitting in the chair talking to said boyfriend on the phone about chair-​related issues while he compared my photos to those of the chair on the Eames website, an associate came over and asked if I was a shopper at the store. I said that yes, I was considering buying the chair, He said quite snarkily, «well, you’ve been sitting in that chair for quite a while.» Like I said, I had been doing quite a lot of things to the chair, including sitting in it, that any observer could have easily identified as Things People Do When Considering Buying Furniture. Not too long after that boyfriend identified the chair as one sold by another Manhattan store for $ 399 new, scuff-​free and with unbroken casters.
So this downgrade is for 1. Being Snarky and 2. Being Overpriced. $ 200 for a broken scuffed chair that sells for $ 399 new is Not A Good Deal.

This is a review for the Salvation Army donation department of New York. It’s horrible.
Not only is the wait time for them to come pick up a big ticket item very long (3 weeks for me), but they are irresponsible and waste a lot of time.
When I first called I kept being put on a loop over and over again. I finally left a voicemail. Never heard from them. Then when I called for the 4^th time, I finally got a live person who told me «I don’t listen to messages.»
I finally scheduled the pick up for a desk. Only to wait all day long and not have the truck come, claiming my street was blocked off. When I called to try to have the truck come back that day, I was told contradictory information. At the end, the truck never came and there was no apology from SA.
There are lots of other charities to donate to, don’t donate to SA in NY save yourself the hassle, attitude, and time.
P. S. The movers who finally came to pick up the desk, from a different charity, told me they have heard many complaints about SA around the city.

This is stop #3 on the 23^rd St Thrift Crawl!
(previous stop was:
)
I have to admit that liked this store better in its previous location, which was right next door. But now that’s a different thrift store, which is a net gain of one thrift store on this block, which can only be a good thing.
Well, this is a Salvation Army. It’s what you might expect. It’s pretty big; lots of racks to sift through, it’s whatever people donated, but you might find something good amidst the random crapola. The prices are cheap.
Next: on to its previous location, right next door!

Hey! I like this joint :) Naturally, because everything is dirt cheap. REALLY. Like my brand new $ 3 shirt. You can find brand names if you’re into that sort of stuff. It’s just a cool place to find something new for a few quarters. Yeah, yeah, so the lady who works there walks around and may shout out «DON’T THROW THE CLOTHES ON THE FLOOR!» — but that’s fine, it makes sense doesn’t it, and she’s actually nice if you, well, don’t throw your clothes on the floor.

Year 2011
1) Donate gear I can’t fit into anymore.
2) Less is more.
3) Use what you got.
Apparently, donating used wigs is valued at $ 25 here. Tax Score.

This Salvation Army must have changed locations, as spooky elevator was not part of my experience. It’s one floor and I popped in one a wednesday where everything but one colors is 50%. It’s really small compared to other Salvation Army’s i’ve been to, but I did manage to find a skirt and a really cute pair of high waisted shorts, so all was not lost.
The employees were loud and obnoxious, though. I understand they deal with a lot of customers probably not realizing that a certain tag on family day ISN’T 50% off (even though they have the sign right in the entrance) but screaming it out loud at the whole store with an attitude isn’t the way to go about it.
It’s conveniently close to work, so i may drop by here again.

Lisa was right about the spooky elevator and the –1 level.
BUT, those guys own now a new place, brighter, bigger and cleaner.
Everything’s is on one floor, they do sales everyday.
For example today is –50% on pink etiquettes, tomorrow it will be on the green ones.
Also, if you take your time and search attentively you might end up by buying some brand clothes for pennies. =)
This is why I’m quite a fan of this place!