Salvation Army

re: random visit
Managed to finally check out this place after passing it 100s of times in the last 8 years since I’ve moved here. This is your typical Salvation Army Thrift Store. I was quite surprised on the robust selection. This particular location looked like it had some pretty neat antique pieces so if that’s your thing, I would highly encourage you to visit this place frequently. Definitely will come back, just do not know when since I don’t leave in Seattle.

Very disappointed in the selection here. Things were very poorly organized. I also walked by 2 employees whom were having a conversation about how stupid their jobs were. Not only was this awkward, but very inappropriate in a workplace.
Though it is in a great location, I was un satisfied to say the least!

I am singing the praises of this store!
Everyone that works there friendly and helpful. Cindy was es specially fantastic!

I shopped at this location years ago and the prices and customer service were so much better back then. Sorry to say but this place is now worthy of zero stars.
The only reason why I gave it one star is because of the public restroom which is in the front of the store near the furniture.
The prices of the clothes are just way too high for used items. I usually look and feel encouraged but not at this Salvation Army. They did not have an ample amount of shopping carts. Horrible.
I will not return. Prices are too high including for women’s jeans and women’s shoes. Not worth my while. I do not suggest unless you like to pay high prices!

This place is very organized and very much like a Ross or Tuesday Morning. For example, the sport jackets were organized by size. Coincidentally, it was two for one so I was able to get two sport jackets for just $ 15. The building and parking lot appear to be new and it’s also more spacious than the one in Skokie, IL. The people were friendly and they had great music playing. I picked up a few soccer shirts as well.

I had some time to kill yesterday and decided to give this place one more try. I was in need of some envelopes so I headed there first, surprisingly I found an unopened box but again… NO price tag. What are the chances right? I was asked to go the registers to get a price so I did and waited patiently in line. I kindly asked the cashier «Hi, I can’t find a price on this box of envelopes. Can you price this for me please?» She said «Sure. That will be $ 2.50.»
$ 2.50 for a pack of envelopes! What is this a Staples. That box wasn’t even a brand I’ve ever heard of. Way overpriced. You should wait for the sale at the end of the month.

This store is the cleanest thrift store that I have ever seen. it was so organized and most importantly, there was no funky smell. but here is the downside. the clothes at this place are not a bargain at all. a jean can cost up to 15 bucks, which is more expensive than the one in South Center mall. too expensive for thrift store

They’re really flaky and picky in picking up donation items. Their organization from scheduling to pickup is seriously upside down.
You have to call to schedule a pickup date but they cannot give you a time frame until that morning of and then it’s a huge 3 hour window. And if you make them wait a minute, they re gone.
That’s what happened to me. They gave me a window of 12 – 3 and they show up at 12 sharp. I got a call from the dispatcher at 12:07 saying that they showed up and I didn’t answer my my phone. But my phone never rang! Worse, the dispatcher was unwilling to turn the truck around even though they’re just minutes away. Basically they expect you to wait up to 3 hours but cannot give you an extra minute.
Sad to say that this experience makes me by want to donate anything to them again.

Ever since that faithful day that I first stepped foot into Value Village back in February ’10, I found my love for thrift stores and never looked back. (It’s still my shopping secret today!)
I decided to try the Salvation Army today just because I felt like checking the place out.
The sections and racks for pretty confusing. The store was spaced out. The book selection was decent but wasn’t organized.
At least I found a bracelet and a shirt that I liked, and the lady threw in a ‘hair volumizer’. thank you, thank you.
I’m sorry Value Village, I won’t ever leave you again.

This place deserves some props. I just moved to town this past January and needed to score some furniture that didn’t wreck my finances and didn’t have too many bedbugs.
I’m from Detroit, where the Salvation Army is seedy at best. I was hesitant but desperate and trying to be open minded about life in the rainy wilds and there didn’t appear to be anybody turning tricks in the immediate area, so I went in.
So glad I did. If you are looking for plush furniture, this is the place to go. I got a beautiful camel back sofa with a wine paisley print that is absolutely enormous (seriously, you could fit four people on this thing) for 100 dollars. It was basically brand new. I also got an awesome mahogany table with an inlayed checkerboard for 100, and a wingback chair for 50.
Everything was in very good condition, and the staff were incredibly helpful and nice. My apartment now looks like a page out of an English hunting lodge porn. All it needs is a bear head on the wall and a pizza delivery boy. I am satisfied.
They will also help you with delivery if you need it. I came here sans wheels, but they were able to load all my stuff up and drag it to Cap Hill for seventy five dollars, and they even helped me get it into my apartment.
Check this place out. You’ll likely be pleasantly surprised.

Way over priced. Ugly side table for $ 70? No thanks. Waste of my time.

So I have a weird, pathological side that used to push me into dollar stores and Salvation Army’s without restraint. It was almost a compulsion. But parenting is the best solution to any leisure activity, and I’ve been years away from these vices. However, Valentine’s Day found me downtown being blithely ignored by the Seattle School District Enrollment Center, and once I got my totally unhelpful non-​answer from them, I had this hour, this beautiful, perfectly symmetrical hour, which had no predesignated label indicating it had already been allocated out to some urgent, dreary task or other. I am telling you… it was ON THE WAY HOME.
So in I went. It’s big, and much less crowded than the two Goodwills I’ve frequented in town. It’s also got much better Feng Shui than Value Village, with the added benefit of not being on Aurora. That’s good just because being on Aurora just fills me with despair right off the blocks.
So on this day at this Salvation Army, it happened that all red tags were half off in honor of Valentine’s Day (you knew there was some reason I mentioned this, right?) As the employee informed me, red=hearts, and it’s Valentine’s Day. You get the picture.
So here’s what I got there that day. A one dollar and fifty cent dog bed in perfect condition (minus that stink you have to wash out in the laundry of course) which our dog Porkchop would like you to know is fucking NAILS and totally what she wanted, and she is sprawled out on it right now, tits in the air and saying YEAAAAAAAAAAH mmmm hmmm.
I also got this ¾ length plum leather ultra-​fitted jacket by Oscar De La Renta (back when the brand actually meant something – it’s vintage.) It is supremely well cut and fits like the black stuff Kate Beckinsale always is wearing in those über-​stupid vampire movies. Hopefully this coat will not make the things I say anywhere near as stupid as the things she says in those movies. The coat was twelve dollars.
Next, I relieved them of a lovely air popper for smugglin’ in the healthier stuff to the theaters. Since my older son found an acrylic nail in his movie theater popcorn I now smuggle in bags of my own with impunity, armed with the intention of simply saying just that in the event I am stopped. Anyway, after unscrewing the machine and sterilizing it (as a friend pointed out, appliances issuing from the Salvation Army always seems to look as though they were used in a meth lab) my ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENT Valentine’s Air Popping Dream Machine is performing marvelously, and roughage is well represented in our household!
I also found, in their «better items» section, what I asked for but didn’t receive for Christmas: a full and utterly beautiful, modern set of stoneware place settings in muted, super cool colors. Apparently they are Calvin Klein. I did not know that fellow had penetrated the dish world. Fascinating. But I tell you all this because this set really was gorgeous, and in perfect condition, AND it was about 40 pieces, and cost… drumroll…18 dollars after the sweetheart red tag discount!
Also, a tip! Click on this link and you can see when their 50% off sales are comin’ up. Score!

I don’t know when they re-​opened exactly, but they started over from scratch, and I love it. No more pricey Attic or sketchy basement. The lower level is now covered parking. (Awesome.) The interior is well-​lit, well-​signed, clean and organized. It feels like JCPenney back when Penneys was a department store and not bumf***in Egypt.
They’re pricier than your average Value Village. I don’t know what evil geniuses get hired to price things, but ugly Christmas sweaters were 10 – 20 bucks during the holiday season. Don’t think you can get one over on these folks. Also, Salvation Army is an evangelical Christian organization with typical evangelical views on abortion, suicide, homosexuality, etc — so if that is not your steez, you might want to get your Pyrex at a secular thrift store.

This place ain’t no Goodwill, that’s for sure.
The pickin’s seem to be mighty slim here and the prices are really high on some items – especially any furniture that is in decent condition. I think they eventually mark their prices down, but it takes ‘em awhile.

I’ve been here twice. I didn’t really find anything the first time, and the parking lot is tiny! Stuff in the ‘attic’ part can be quite pricey!
Today I went on a whim, and everything in the store was 50% off (including the ‘attic’). I found the cutest pyrex dish and some great things in the attic. Honestly, things are priced very inconsistently in the attic. Take the silverware, for example. They had a few pieces of baby silverware that were pure sterling silver priced at $ 10 – 15 each. But, they had a whole set of six sterling knives bagged for $ 18 (online the same knives sell for around $ 30 each). I’m guessing it depends on who is sorting the goods.
Anyway, it’s worth taking a look in here if you can get a parking space easily.

The people who work here are nice. I have seen some reasonable furniture. Okay, I got the good things out of the way. The reality is that this store has inconsistent pricing and their clothes are pretty shoddy. But the worst are the politics of the Salvation Army. They fire gay employees, opposed the minimum wage, and won’t give resources to kids unless they can prove their citizenship. WTF? I’m not a fan and haven’t been back since I learned about the inner workings of this institution.

To answer Sarah C:
You can get an attractive couch for less than $ 200 after delivery at Value Village ($ 25) or Goodwill ($ 100). Just rent or borrow a truck and it’ll still be under $ 200.
For example, I saw a beautiful blue embroidered couch at Goodwill for about $ 125 but it was already sold! I spent a good fifteen minutes on that couch saying goodbye, wishing I had seen it first.
Salvation Army, on the other hand, is a profiteering racket. I couldn’t believe the prices they were trying to pass off for used goods!!! It seems they were marking 50% off the item’s original retail price. It was obnoxious and disgusting.
I’m truly offended and horrified by what they were trying to sell here. A decrepit bookshelf went for over $ 100. End tables with tape residue and damage were marked at $ 50 each. I got visibly angry seeing IKEA furniture going for triple digits. WHAT THE HELL???
I spit in their general direction.

Not the best deals in the land.
I have found a couple of things on the cheap but not enough to make me a regular shopper.

Where can you go in Seattle to get an attractive couch for less than $ 200 after delivery?
This Salvation Army. It’s the only place! I found three or four great couches here after weeks upon weeks of scouring consignment shops, discount furniture stores, and other thrift stores without success.
I’ve been back looking for other things without much luck, but they consistently have great couches for not a lot of scratch – and since it’s a nearly impossible quest, it more than compensates for any imperfections in the other parts of the store.

I like this Salvation Army. The little boutique section doesn’t bother me much, because what makes it in there and what doesn’t seems to be pretty arbitrary. There are just as many good finds out on the main floor. They also have a lot of furniture, a lot of it vintage and not merely ugly.
I love thrifting, too, but since everyone else and their dog also loves it, gone are my days of expecting to buy super valuable stuff for basically nothing at charity shops. But that’s why I like this Salvation Army. They seem to have so much stuff that maybe the person pricing the merchandise who knows all the data on what’s an antique and what’s junk only sees about half of it. The prices are way inconsistent. So you get to hunt around for the stuff priced reasonably or completely undervalued. Fun!
It is dirty, that I will agree with. But every time I’ve been here, I’ve found one pair of absolutely pristine and currently trendy vintage shoes or boots for $ 5 or less. If Salvation Army was out to buy my love, they’ve succeeded due to this fact.