2024-09-02T19:11:31-04:00

My trip to Fantastic Finds in Chappaqua and on my visit, I found something fantastic!

September 2, 2024/ToniOnThrifting.com/1 Comment

Once inside Fantastic Finds, it may have a familiar feel to it. In its past life, it was the Discovery Shop! Seven years ago, Fantastic Finds took over the property and has never looked back. This is not your regular thrift shop but an upscale resale boutique. Whenever I visit Fantastic Finds, I am amazed but not surprised at their inventory. They carry gently used and top-quality clothing for both men and women. There is a lot of turnover, which turns into constant fresh inventory, which is a plus. I was lucky to be shopping at one of their sales. The shop had a steady stream of customers, and I was impressed by the men visiting the suit section. One gentleman purchased not one but two suits. They carry new and gently used clothing, jewelry, handbags, artwork, home décor, serveware, and small furniture pieces. I hope the pictures show they have a superb selection of everything. On my trip, I found a stunning blazer that I immediately fell in love with, not to mention it was 25% off.

I spoke to Joanne Mortell, the Fantastic Finds manager for the past seven years. She is thrilled that all proceeds go to Support Connection. Support Connection is an independent 501c3 that depends on donations to fund its free, year-round services. Their mission is to help change fear to hope by providing free emotional, social, and educational support to people impacted by breast, ovarian, or gynecological cancer. Through one-on-one sessions with professional counselors, who are cancer survivors themselves, and group programs embracing mind, body, and spirit, their goal is to be a comforting and empowering resource for women and their families undergoing cancer treatment. Joanne stated that the most rewarding part of her volunteering is that Fantastic Finds raises money for women going through the most challenging times.

One of the most anticipated events at Fantastic Finds is the annual fashion show, where volunteers showcase the boutique’s merchandise. This event, which will be held on October 24th at Crabtree Kittle House in Chappaqua, is not just a showcase of style, but a significant fundraiser for the cause.

I eagerly look forward to attending this year’s fashion show and supporting this noble cause!

Fantastic Finds is also currently seeking volunteers with a passion for retail! The Store is open Monday – Saturday from 10 am – 4 pm. Volunteer Shifts are 3 hours long with the choice of morning or afternoon hours. If interested, please call the Support Connection Office at 914-962-6402 or email fantastic.finds@supportconnection.org.

You can sign up for Fantastic Finds News and Updates on Sales on their website, and you can check their website for donation information: https://supportconnection.org/fantastic-finds/. You can also Follow Fantastic Finds on Facebook and Instagram.

Fantastic Finds

400 King Street (in the Talbots Shopping Center)

Chappaqua, NY 10514

914-238-9200

Monday – Saturday, 10 am – 4 pm

Until next time, Happy Thrifting!

August 17th is National Thrift Shop Day

August 17, 2024August 17, 2024/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. Why do people love thrift shopping? Why do I love thrift shopping? The thrill of the hunt is looking for that great find. The chance to create your style and make a fashion statement. The ability to save money by not shopping in expensive department stores. Secondhand and vintage clothes are better quality than today’s fast fashion. Even thrift stores have sales. Help your community by supporting local thrift shops that use their proceeds to help people in their communities. It gives you a chance to keep updating your wardrobe at reasonable prices. If you dislike a purchase, you can donate it right back.

Most importantly, by thrift shopping, you are saving the planet and keeping clothes out of landfills. These are just some of the reasons why we all love thrift shopping. I have been thrift shopping for over forty years, and it brings me great joy and is my passion. There is no better way to enjoy a few hours than by going to a thrift shop and just looking through all the racks hoping to find those unique pieces that I will buy and love for years to come.

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 Thrifting!

St. Patrick’s Thrift Shop in Verplanck, New York – a popular stop on the Verplanck thrift crawl

March 2, 2024March 2, 2024/ToniOnThrifting.com/Leave a comment

St. Patrick’s Thrift Shop in Verplanck was always a pleasure, but now that they have doubled their size, it is an even better thrifting experience. The newly expanded space has beautifully displayed linens, décor, and household items. Their best seller is still their wide selection of men’s and women’s clothing. They also carry shoes, accessories, small furniture, and more. The shop is better than ever. They have a wide selection of merchandise, and I have always left the thrift shop with something special. That is why they have a steady stream of repeat customers who continually support them. It is very easy to support the thrift shop because it has a great selection and is continuously updated.

Margaret McKeon, the shop manager, opened the shop in October 1993. St. Patrick’s recently celebrated their 30^th anniversary. Margaret, a lifelong resident, has been a parishioner since she was baptized at St. Patrick’s church. St Patrick’s is an integral part of the Verplanck community, and their customers come from near and far to shop there and support them.

St. Patrick’s welcomes all gently used donations, especially clothing if they are clean and usable. St. Patrick’s is also giving away free prom shoes on April 19^th. While there, you can also shop for prom accessories. The event is from 4 pm until 7 pm.

Check out St. Patrick’s Facebook page to see a sampling of their new merchandise. I couldn’t see Margaret on my last visit, but I did see Marlene and Becky, two of the many amazing volunteers at St. Patrick’s.

St Patrick’s Thrift Shop

240 11 St.

Verplanck, New York

Open Wednesdays and Saturdays – 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

stpatrickschurch@gmail.com

Website: http://www.chrispatparish.com/

When you are in the area, you can also visit:

L.I.S.A. “Let It Shine Again” Thrift Boutique
137 7th Street,
Verplanck, New York
Wednesdays 9 AM – 1 PM
Thursdays 9 AM – 1 PM
Fridays 11 A – 4 PM
Saturdays 9 AM – 1 P

Carriage House Thrift Shop
Church of Divine Love
80 Sunset Road Montrose
Thursday & Saturday 10 am – 2 pm September-June
10 am – 1 pm July and August.

The Mustard Seed
Reformed Church of Cortlandtown
Saturday 10-2, Sunday 11-2
2124 Albany Post Rd.
Montrose (914) 737-6482

Until next time, Happy Thrifting!

Here are some of my favorite quotes about thrift shopping that I love!

January 7, 2024/ToniOnThrifting.com/Leave a comment

Happy New Year! I wanted to share with you some of my favorite quotes on thrift shopping! I hope that you enjoy them!

Thrift shopping is all about going into the thrift shop and having no expectation of what you might find.

Macklemore

My mom passed on her obsession of all things antique or vintage. I love to go thrift store shopping or explore any sort of garage sale. Treasure hunting is a family passion.

Zoey Deutch

Thrift shopping is really just an extension of me being that same kid and going into a place that’s completely unconventional that has really endless possibilities in terms of outfits that you can put together and really just expressing yourself.

Macklemore

I love thrift shopping. You can get ten things because everything costs, like, three dollars.

Lorde

I might wear skinny pants one day; I might wear thrift shop pants the next day.

Post Malone

I am a theater girl, and a lot of theater girls dress however pleases them. I wear whatever looks good on me. I wear what I wear because I have been shopping at thrift stores since I was five.

Kirsten Vangsness

The whole thing of clothes is insane. You can spend a dollar on a jacket in a thrift store. And you can spend a thousand dollars on a jacket in a shop. And if you saw those two jackets walking down the street, you probably wouldn’t know which was which.

Helen Mirren

Thank you, Brainy Quote, for the above quotes!

And here are three more:

Natalie Joos
On her advice for new vintage shoppers: “Never shop for something specific. Just browse. Don’t expect to find what you were looking for. It never works. Either go for cool pieces that stand out and are unique (you will keep them longer) or go for the big designer pieces that will last you a lifetime. Don’t buy things you know you will dispose of. Try stuff on. Vintage was made for smaller people. But don’t be afraid to buy things too big. Alterations are common when buying vintage. You don’t want to miss a cool piece just because it’s too big. Too small is not recommended!” —Elle, February 2013

Winona Ryder
“Most of my wardrobe is vintage and I’ve worn dresses to the Oscars that I got for $10. At Sean Penn’s last Haiti gala I wore this vintage dress that I’d worn to a film premiere in 2005. I know that’s kind of a no-no in the fashion world, but why wear something just once if you love it?” —Red, April 2014

Tracee Ellis Ross
“I buy a lot of vintage because, well, it’s AMAZING! And truthfully you can get great stuff for not a lot of money. I have a passion for vintage clothing because of the quality and uniqueness of the pieces (you don’t really have to worry about showing up in the same outfit as someone else). To update some of my vintage finds or sometimes just to make them fit, I have the help of a fabulous seamstress and dressmaker, Daniela Kurrle. She really is stupendous and our collaborations have resulted in some of my favorite dresses in my closet.” —her site, February 2013

Until next time, Happy Thrifting!

August 17th is National Thrift Shop Day!! Celebrate by shopping at one of your favorite thrift shops.

August 17, 2023August 17, 2023/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.

When you shop The Ridgefield Thrift Shop, My Sister’s Place, St. Bart’s, The Back Door Thrift Shop (blog coming soon), Cauz For Pawz, New Canaan Thrift Shop, and countless others, you are supporting PHENOMENAL causes and helping change countless lives. Not to mention that we are helping save the planet by keeping clothes out of landfills. “Reduce, reuse, and recycle” is my motto.

In honor of National Thrift Shop Day, here are some quick tips for thrift shopping. Although this blog is a repeat, there are some new tips included.

Be friendly and ask the staff when the most new merchandise is put out.

Be kind when thrift shopping, most of the people who work at charitable thrift shops are volunteers, and they have already spent hours filling the racks. If you put items back, put them back on the right rack.

Know your labels and brands – know what to invest in for your basic wardrobe pieces and what to buy for fun.

Don’t buy something just because it is a name or designer brand; make sure you love the piece and will wear it. More often than not, you will not wear it if you are buying it by name.

Remember, if you buy an item and it needs alterations, the alterations can cost two to three times what you paid. Choose wisely when buying a piece that needs to be altered.

The smaller thrift shops sometimes have the best buys.

ENJOY the hunt, and know that you may not always find something. Just keep going back when you find a thrift shop you love.

Merchandise is also very geographical, so go out of your own area, and you will be surprised at how different (in a good way) the merchandise is.

I have recently heard from many thrift store managers that people are dropping off unusable merchandise. Please know that some smaller thrift shops have to pay to have garbage hauled off. Please only drop off clean and in good condition items.

I hope you find these tips helpful.

Thank you for reading – if you like my blogs, please like my Facebook page: TonionThrifting

Until next time, Happy Thrifting!

August 17th is National Thrift Shop Day

August 16, 2022August 16, 2022/ToniOnThrifting.com/1 Comment

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 Thrifting!

The IFCA Thrift Shop in Ossining is delightful!

August 2, 2022August 17, 2022/ToniOnThrifting.com/1 Comment

The IFCA (Interfaith Council for Action) Thrift Shop in Ossining was a delightful surprise. They had a good selection, and the pricing was outstanding. $3.00 tee shirts and $4.00 for shirts/blouses, $5.00 for jeans and pants, $5.00 for handbags, $5 to $10 for jackets, $8 to $15 for dresses, baby, and children’s clothes, $1.50 to $3.00, shoes $2.50 and up. Household items can be found for anywhere between $1 to $35. The clothes and housewares were in excellent condition, and the selection was sizeable. I was impressed with the children’s section as they had a good selection and affordable pricing—the same for the jewelry, accessories, and linens.

The first IFCA thrift store opened approximately eight years ago on Spring Street in Ossining. The Thrift Shop moved to a larger space earlier this year at 95 Croton Avenue and is doing well. The store was busy while I was there. I spoke to Amy, the manager, and she said that there is a high turnover of merchandise, and I could see from the donations and sales that this is true. The store layout is open and easy to navigate, and the displays are appealing. They have an all-volunteer staff and are always looking for new volunteers to help with the shop and sorting donations.

Proceeds from the Thrift Shop fund IFCA’s community programs. IFCA was established in 1968 and provides a range of affordable housing development, property management, and supportive services to low and moderate-income people. IFCA owns and manages affordable apartments in Ossining and Tarrytown, NY. It is also a pioneer in developing transitional housing for the homeless, currently maintaining 16 units through Westchester County’s Emergency Housing Apartment Program (EHAP). Additionally, IFCA has adopted innovative community service programs to help hundreds of people beyond its tenant base, including financial literacy programs and job training. What better reasons do you need than to shop and help Ossining and the local communities? Bravo IFCA.

IFCA Thrift Shop

95 Croton Avenue
Ossining, NY 10562
Across the street from CTown

(914) 236-3000

thriftstore@ifcany.org

Store Hours:
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 11 am to 4 pm.

Until next time, Happy Thrifting!

Katonah Thrift Shop is always a good choice when thrift shopping in Westchester!

June 26, 2022June 26, 2022/ToniOnThrifting.com/Leave a comment

The Katonah Thrift Shop is an excellent Westchester thrift shop circuit stop. They have a good selection of clothes, and the inventory is continually updated. I have a blast walking around and looking at the other items—fabric, light fixtures, antiques, and much more. I bought a gorgeous silver picture frame there the last visit for the meager price of $2.00. It was in perfect condition and went with my décor well. I enjoy looking through the housewares, and I have previously purchased some unique serving pieces that I love.

I spent my visit poring through the racks for this blog. Their selection of clothing is good and the prices reasonable. Both men’s and women’s and all sizes. The women’s section is more extensive and has a nice selection of formal and informal dresses. Their accessory section has various bags, scarves, belts, etc. The displays are well done. I am always pleasantly surprised to find some vintage clothing, among many other treasures.

The Katonah Women’s Civic Club runs the Katonah Thrift Shop. The thrift shop is in the basement of the beautiful historic Memorial House on Bedford Road. Currently, the thrift store is managed by Joan Kachmarik, Ursula Martin, and Bobbi Stanton and is fully staffed by members of the Civic Club. All proceeds from the thrift shop go to the Katonah Women’s Civic Club, established in 1918, and are distributed to numerous community organizations – too many to mention. While there, they had so many donation drop-offs that I could not get all the volunteers together for a photo.

I spoke to Bobbi Stanton (pictured), one of the managers, and she told me that she loves when the oldies are playing and sees people dancing and bopping in the store – Bobbi said it makes her happy and the shopping more fun for customers. She said that all the members love working there, and the thrift shop has a very loyal following with many returning customers.

Well worth a stop and highly rated, the Katonah thrift Shop is worth a visit if you haven’t been and a return visit if you have. You can follow KTS on Facebook.

The Katonah Thrift Shop

71 Bedford Road (next to the Firehouse)

Katonah, NY 10536

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 10 am until 2 pm

Until next time, Happy Thrifting!!

Some Thrift Shops That Have Temporarily Closed or Closed Permanently.

March 4, 2022/ToniOnThrifting.com/2 Comments

Whether the pandemic or other unforeseen circumstances, these great thrift shops have had to temporarily close or close permanently. This list contains some truly amazing thrift shops. I wish all their staff an abundance of gratitude for their work and good wishes for the future. I appreciate all the hard work and dedication of all thrift shops. Especially the charity shops which survive solely on the goodness and time of their volunteers.

It is not an easy business but thankfully, becoming more and more popular as time goes on.

Let’s all go out this weekend and support our favorite thrift shops in honor of these amazing shops that have brought us great joy not to mention some amazing finds.

And here is the list:

Westchester County:

St Thomas Church Thrift Shop in Mamaroneck has temporarily closed.

Goodwill in New Rochelle in Westchester County has permanently closed.

New Rochelle Humane Society Thrift Shop has permanently closed.

Finders Keepers Thrift Shop in Mahopac is permanently closed.

The Thrift Shop in White Plains is temporarily closed.

American Cancer Society Discovery Shop in Chappaqua is now Fantastic Finds.

New York City:

Angel Street Thrift Shop in Chelsea has permanently closed.

The Society Boutique on Third Ave. permanently closed.

Connecticut:

Village Vogue Boutique in Milford has permanently closed.

If you know of any others, please email me at tonionthrifting@gmail.com and I will update this list.

I will be posting some great upcoming Spring sales in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned….

Until next time, HAPPY THRIFTING

xoxo

TonionThrifting

West Coast Thrifting – Let’s Visit Beacon House Thrift Shop in San Pedro, California. Shop More, Spend Less, Save Lives!

December 9, 2021January 6, 2022/ToniOnThrifting.com/Leave a comment

I thought it would be nice to see where our West Coast thrifters are shopping. Thanks to Zach at Thrift Store Communications of Beacon House Thrift Shop, we can visit Beacon House Thrift Shop in San Pedro, California.

Beacon House Thrift Shop is a social enterprise program of the Beacon House Association of San Pedro, a state-certified, residential substance abuse recovery program for men and a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Residents of the Beacon House are provided with food, shelter, counseling, peer group support, educational opportunities, and career training through our social enterprise programs, including working at the Beacon House Thrift Shop. This allows the men to develop the life, career, and social skills they need to build a foundation in recovery while preparing them for a vital reintegration into the job market and a bright future when they return to their family, home, and community.

Beacon House Thrift Store pricing is quite competitive with their East Coast counterparts. Jeans range from $7.99 to $19.99, and tops range from $4.99 to $14.99. Dresses are priced from $7.99 to $19.99 and suits from $9.99 – $24.99.

Depending on the quality and brand, the prices may be higher on a specific item.
Red tags are considered higher quality items and tend to be the best bang for your buck.
They have weekly color sales. For example, yellow 25%, blue 50%, and green 75%, while orange is full price. On Sundays, this rotates.

There are sales every weekend where when you buy a minimum of $50, you get 25% off your entire transaction. This is on top of all the color sales. That is pretty amazing and well worth visiting if you are in the area.

Beacon House Thrift carries a wide variety of electronics, household, hardware, tools, sports equipment, and memorabilia.

Follow Beacon Hose Thrift Shop on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/beaconhousethrift/

The Long Beach store has 13,000 square feet. It is located at 3220 E Anaheim St Unit 3240 in the Belmont Center, Long Beach, CA 90804. Both stores have abundant inventory.

I would highly recommend visiting both locations when you are in these areas in California. You are not only getting great buys but helping a phenomenal cause.

Beacon House Thrift Shop

812 S Pacific Ave

San Pedro, CA 90731

Both stores are open daily from 11AM – 7PM and closed on all major holidays.

Until next time, Happy Thrifting!!!!!

ToniOnThrifting