2018-08-17T07:50:48-04:00

August 17th is National Thrift Shop Day

August 17, 2018/ToniOnThrifting.com/Leave a comment

August 17th is National Thrift Shop Day. We all know that I think it should be a national holiday. 🙂 I love my thrift shopping – both shopping and writing about it. I take great enjoyment out of the “hunt” and I have met some remarkable people along the way. Please remember when you shop My Sister’s Place, Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat For Humanity, Angel Street, Cauz For Pawz, Housing Works, Humane Society of New Rochelle and countless others, you are supporting PHENOMENAL causes and helping change countless lives. So on National Thrift Shop Day, please go out and shop, you will be supporting someone in need and helping the environment!! Every piece of clothing purchased second-hand means one less new one produced.

So in honor of National Thrift Shop Day, here are my top reasons why I love thrift shopping:

You are more than likely supporting a charity that helps people in need.

You are helping to save the environment.

Thrift shopping allows you to create your own style, be unique and try different things.

You are saving money.

Vintage pieces can make an outfit look spectacular.

You can decorate your home inexpensively.

You can housewares at a fraction off the cost.

You meet some amazing people along the way.

Thrift stores have sales too.

and….

The enjoyment I get from thrift shopping especially when I find a really special piece.

Happy National Thrift Shop Day!!

Thank you for reading – if you like my blogs, please like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tonionthrifting/

Until next time, Happy Shopping!

August 17th is National Thrift Shop Day

August 16, 2015August 8, 2019/ToniOnThrifting.com/1 Comment

According to the website nationalcalendarday – August 17th is National Thrift Shop Day. We all know that I think it should be a national holiday. 🙂 I love my thrift shopping – both shopping and writing about it. While just this morning I scored a Ralph Lauren denim skirt brand new (with tags on it) for $2.49 in Goodwill :). It really can be fun shopping for bargains like these. I take great enjoyment out of the “hunt” and I have met some remarkable people along the way. Please remember when you shop Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat For Humanity, Angel Street, Cauz For Pauz, Housing Works, Humane Society of New Rochelle and countless others, you are supporting PHENOMENAL causes and helping change countless lives. So on National Thrift Shop Day, please go out and shop, you will be supporting someone in need!! 🙂

CELEBRATE

On National Thrift Shop Day, watch for specials at the Thrift Shops in your area and have a Happy National Thrift Shop Day! Use #NationalThriftShopDay to post on social media. 🙂

Until next time, HAPPY SHOPPING!!

23rd St in NYC has so many options!

April 28, 2015August 8, 2019/ToniOnThrifting.com/2 Comments

Welcome back!

When you find a thrift store that you like, make sure that you sign up for their email notifications and like their Facebook page when available, it is a great way to find out about sales and promotions and even see a preview of merchandise . And if you are very lucky, an occasional coupon!!

I thought I would cut right to the chase today and let you know about an abundance of thrift shops on 23^rd Street and the surrounding area. Sort of like a pub crawl but for thrift shops. 🙂

There is such a great array – City Opera, Cauz for Pawz, Housing Works, Vintage Thrift (off 23^rd St.), Unique Boutique (3^rd Ave and 29^th), Goodwill and Salvation Army.

So here we go;

City Opera Thrift Shop
222 E 23^rd St
New York, NY 10010
212.684.5344
Mon-Wed-Fri – 10am-7pm
Thursday 10am-8pm
Saturday 10am-6pm
Sunday 11am-6pm

You have to love City Opera; it is a great thrift shop with lots of character. It has high quality clothing and not at exorbitant prices. They have a wonderful women’s selection with lots of dressy styles (fun to browse through) and I have seen some top brand men’s shirts/suits at reasonable prices. Upstairs is the artwork, books and assorted items. The costume jewelry is always fun to look at in the front of the store and you can find great buys in the shoe department if you are lucky. As far as furniture, I have seen some extraordinary furniture but it is gone as fast as it comes in. Join their Facebook page so you can see when they are having special events which are worth going to. City Opera is one not to miss!!!

Cauz for Pawz
212 E 23^rd St
New York, NY 10010
212.684.7299
www.cauzforpawz.com
Mon-Fri – 10am–8pm
Sun – 11am-7pm

Cauz for Pawz provides animal welfare organizations, rescue and no kill shelters with financial funds and supplies – they host animal adoption events and even run a community pet food pantry for animals in need. What is their not to love about this – I definitely want to help this cause!

They have two floors with the better quality clothing upstairs and the big markdowns downstairs. The housewares are downstairs as well as well as the majority of shoes. They have a fine selection of costume jewelry in the front of the shop and they are having a 20% off sale on it from May 8 – 10^th just in time for Mother’s Day. PSA – the elevator is a bit rickety but don’t worry J.

Housing Works
157 E. 23^rd St
New York, NY 10010
212.529.5955
http://www.housingworks.org/locations/detail/gramercy-thrift-shop/
Mon-Fri – 10am- 7pm
Sat – 10am-6pm
Sun – 12pm-6pm

I like this Housing Works (I like all Housing Works). The clothes are great – both a men and women’s section with a good variety and a nice sized shoe department with bags and accessories. They have a decent book section and I have never seen housewares jump off the shelves like this Housing Works so there always seems to be a limited supply. They have a sale rack which is worth going through and as in most thrift stores on 23rd Street; furniture has a short “shelf life”. The window displays are always fun to look at but the items are only available through auction. Another not to miss!

Vintage Thrift
286 3^rd Ave. (between 2^nd and 3^rd)
New York, NY
212.871.0777
http://www.vintagethriftshop.org/
Mon – Thur – 10:30am-8pm
Friday – 10:30am until dusk
Sun – 11am-7pm
Saturday – Closed

Purchases from the Vintage Shop benefit the United Jewish Council of the East Side which operates three senior centers. They have also developed and now manage 170 units of low income, elderly and special needs amongst many other programs. I salute UJC for helping the senior citizen population.

The sales here are great when they have them and it is just so much fun to browse through this shop. The displays are charming and have been set up quite nicely. There is just so much to see. I think that there are some great finds to be had here. Vintage Thrift – Another definitely not to miss!!!

Unique Boutique
402 Third Ave. (between 28 & 29)
New York, NY 10128
212.427.0077
Mon – Sat – 10am–9pm
Sunday – 11am-8pm

This is a great shop just have a little patience. Sweet book selection – the hardcovers are $2 and the paperbacks $1 with some new releases (obviously they don’t last long). The clothes selection is good but not extensive. They carry some good name brands but look over the clothes closely before purchasing. I think this is one of those places where you may find that “buy” but it will take a little work. The prices are reasonable and it is definitely worth a trip especially if you are in the neighborhood.

Goodwill
220 E 23^rd St
New York, NY 10010
212.447.7270
Mon – Sat – 9am-9pm
Sunday – 10am – 6pm
Salvation Army
206 East 23^rd Street
New York, NY 10010
212.532.8115
Mon, Tues, Thur and Friday – 10am-6pm
Wed and Sat – 10am-7pm
Sun Closed

The Salvation Army operates over 7,475 centers in communities across the United States. These include food distribution, disaster relief, rehabilitation centers, anti-human trafficking efforts, and a wealth of children’s programs. Their work is funded through kettle donations, corporate contributions, and the sale of goods donated to our Salvation Army Family Stores. Eighty-two cents of every dollar we spend supports various missions across the country.

I will touch upon this Goodwill and Salvation Army briefly.

I like this Goodwill and Salvation Army, I do — but you really have to go through the racks to find something. I just don’t seem to have much luck clothing-wise in this Goodwill although I have found a few nice things in the housewares section and very reasonably priced. I will say both have decent tee-shirt sections and both have vintage tees at times which are fun. FYI – This Salvation Army does not have a dressing room. I will say this about both stores – they both have heavy foot traffic and always have long lines at checkout so there is some good merchandise to be had and they are cheaper than the others on the block but the quality is not always as good.

PLEASE NOTE – all constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated and let me know if there is a specific shop in mind you would like to know about!!

Until next time, HAPPY SHOPPING!!!

Toni’s Thoughts on Thrift Shopping (And The Beginning of Her Dream Blog)

March 29, 2015September 20, 2015/ToniOnThrifting.com/5 Comments

Welcome to my blog on thrift shopping. I have been dreaming about writing this blog for a very, very long time and I am excited to finally be starting it. Please bear with me as I am new to blogging so this will be a learning experiece. Thanks in advance.

I thoroughly enjoy shopping in thrift stores. I have spent countless hours in numerous Goodwill, Salvation Army, and many, many other various thrift shops and consignment shops (although I do favor the thrift shop over the consignment shop).

The thrill of finding that little black dress that I otherwise would never have been able to afford and those occasional trendy pieces that I normally would never even think of purchasing are pure enjoyment to me (yes, one of life’s pleasures for me). There are so many things that I have learned from my countless excursions and from talking to other “thrifters”. I will never claim to be an expert; just an overenthusiastic thrift shopper who loves learning how to get the best buys. I hope that you enjoy my blog and find some interesting bits of information that you can use.

In later blogs, I will share my favorite thrift shops with you but for now, I hope to share some useful information with you.

Thrift shopping has changed over the last few years due to the recession. More and more people are using consignment shops for their designer clothing and accessories so that has cut into thrift shopping quite a bit. Also, websites like Tradesy (www.tradesy.com) are making it easy to buy and sell designer clothes and handbags at competitive consignment prices. Not to mention Facebook has many groups in your area where you can buy and sell clothes, accessories, household and many other items online. Times are tough for many and people are looking to make some extra money to help with the bills, that is totally understandable. But don’t worry; there are still plenty of bargains to find and plenty of places to find them.

I have visited countless places in Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester County and lower Connecticut. I will try and include websites and addresses/phone numbers wherever possible.

The first thing that I must emphasize is that you cannot go thrift shopping in a rush. Patience is the key and the most important factor when thrift shopping. You must take the time to look and most importantly, inspect, inspect and inspect again. You can find an amazing piece of clothing but if it has a stain that won’t come out or a tear that can’t be repaired, it is just wasted money and then you are defeating the purpose. The same goes for household, what might look good from far away may have chips or cracks that can’t be repaired and wont look good on that shelf/furniture in your home. The dish set in the box may say eight dishes but upon inspecting the contents, you find mismatched pieces. I have found some pretty spectacular home furnishings and décor in my travels and the best part is that most of them are unusual and end up being conversation pieces.

While in a thrift store in Connecticut, I learned the best piece of advice from another shopper. She and her husband went through the departments/racks that they were interested in and then pulled the clothes that they were considering and put them in a shopping cart. They then went to the back of the store in a quiet corner and inspected and I mean thoroughly inspected each piece of clothing to make sure that it was in good shape and worth the asking price. What impressed me most was the fact that her husband helped and really seemed to be into it. They were both happy and animated when they were talking to me and eager to share their thoughts. I wish that I got their names; they definitely deserve a shout out and lots of thanks.

You must also be open-minded. You are not going to find items that you like every time but you can use the time to find out which stores are carrying things that are in “tune” with your life and style. You pretty much know what name brands fit you well and look good and that also makes it easier when thrift shopping.

Much more to share so until next time!

ToniOnThrifting