Caroline’s Thrift Store

Wonderful place to shop. Amazing assortment of fun items for the house, the yard, for entertaining and also for gifts. The staff is helpful and friendly. Highly recommend a visit to Caroline’s.

A wonderful thrift store, has so many unique things. Also have a small furniture and household items next door. Great place. All the money made goes to non profits in the area.
Every time I go to Aptos, I go here. I brought my sorority sisters today,

If you are in the area and looking for something particular, it’s worth swinging in for a quick check. Caroline’s occupies two buildings and they even had a shipping container out back.
The yellow building was staged a little nicer and the gal who worked there was very sweet. She helped us look at chairs and my daughter fell in love with one.
People mention prices. Yes, it is give or take based on what they are offering. The chair cushions that we ended up buying were hand made, good quality and worth the price. My daughter wanted the Morris chair that they were sitting on. It was very cute but it also had some condition issues (broken support, missing matching arm detail, plywood where the missing spring box should have been located, worn finish etc). I paused when I saw it listed at least 2x what it should have been. I asked about a price adjustment and the owner wouldn’t budge. However, sometimes when one thing doesn’t work out, something else does. Tonight my mom passed down my grandmother’s Morris chair frame to my daughter and the cushions fit perfectly! The day ended with smiles on our faces.
I love that this little shop does support local charities but like any other place that you walk into, know what you are willing to pay for something. Some things are absolutely worth it, others not.

I believe wholeheartedly in the mission of Caroline’s Thrift Store and support what they do for the community which is why I was taken back by the treatment I received at my most recent visit. Upon arriving at the store I was looking at a chair, was given a price by Todd who immediately offered me $ 5.00 off the quoted price. I appreciated that he offered a discount as I never asked for one. This opened the door for me to inquire on prices of other items. Todd gave discounts on 2 other furniture type items. Upon checking out the sales person asked about my purchases in a courteous manner but when she realized what I was buying and that I received a reduction in price her demeanor changed dramatically. She interrogated me asking if I asked for the discount, was this my first visit to the store (actually this was about my 10^th visit), and stated their merchandise is fairly marked and all their proceeds go towards children’s charities. I was with a friend and both of us were so taken back by her attitude we were rendered speechless. We felt as if we were back in school being reprimanded by the principal. I felt I needed to let her know it was Todd who offered the discount and opened that door as we never initiated it. Our experience with Todd was great but I see other reviews on him are not very favorable. If it is store policy to not negotiate and their prices are fixed then post a sign with this information or do not have staff offering discounts! If this sales person had an issue with Todd giving discounts then she should have taken it up with Todd, not me the customer. Based on my treatment I will think twice about ever shopping there again. I wish their store success but they do need to work on customer service…

Not the best thrift store to find bargains, not even close. This thrift shop is way over priced. Many of the clothes are retro– 80s — 90s styles, not my taste but then, I prefer clothes of recent trends of the last 5 years. Some of the staff is nice and some are not. My mom waited 10 minutes today to get helped while another customer cut in front of her. At first it seemed that this customer just had a question regarding the price of a hat for sale but then decided to want to buy it and the clerk basically allowed her to cut in front of my mother to purchase the hat! — that is not good PR skills. And yet, a clerk that waited on me was pleasant as I looked at some costume jewelry I considered getting. But if I had to choose between going to this thrift store and a Goodwill. I would choose going to a Goodwill by far!!!
Pros:
–many items for sale in a cute little thrift store
–gives to charity
Cons:
–pricey on most of their used items
–mostly retro outdated clothing for sale

Some of my fav pieces in my closet are from Caroline’s! Plus, the proceeds go to such a great cause — what could be better?

Old hag was a complete bitch. As soon as my mother and I stepped foot in the store she said, «we’re closed» and proceeded to shut the door. Keep in mind there were other people still shopping in the store! And as we drove off, we noticed the door was back to open with another new customer in there.
Still can’t make sense of that situation to this day lol.

I do like this place, and hate to give it so few stars. I love what they stand for. I have bought many terrific things here.
That being said, most of the staff and who I believe to be the owner, could be nicer.
As others have mentioned, the man who organizes the large donations is disgustingly rude. I avoid him at all costs or don’t even bother to go in if I see him. He was especially rude one time when I went in to ask if they had a certain furniture item. NEVER AGAIN.
I was in recently and this one woman was so rude and apparently tried to walk behind me as I stepped back to look at something, slamming into me. She said NOTHING when I said «Oops sorry!» other than «Mhhmm» as she continued to walk away.
Parking sucks. Both stores are lovely. Staff needs improvement.

One Star for the Parking Nazi, Todd. We didn’t even make it into the store because he was too concerned about us going into Aptos BBQ which by the way I give 5 stars to. He suggested we park in the handicapped spot instead of by the donation trailer. Nice move Todd for a non profit. Shame on you for your rude, interrogating methodology. Happy Holidays Grinch.

The story behind this shop and all that they do for the community is really touching. It’s one of my favorite places to donate.
My suggestion to Caroline’s is to work with your volunteers so they understand their presence and efforts can increase goodwill. Sadly, it can also be a big turnoff. It’s a joy to bring in a donation and very disheartening to have that wind knocked out of my sails by a man who seemed so disgruntled that I even came by to drop off boxes. He saw wire hangers in my car and said in a nasty tone, «We don’t take hangers.» I said I was returning them to the dry cleaners, but thanks for stopping me at the pass lest I had dared entertain the idea of donating them to you. And the ladies who volunteer in the shop… perhaps a little less territorial growling when we’re browsing and little more smiling.

Way over priced and the owner is extremely rude. The items here are pretty junky and she tries to say they are «antiques». Just a bunch of over priced garbage if you ask me.

I love the purpose of Caroline’s. I have donated to and bought many items from Caroline’s. The owner is very friendly and her volunteer staff are helpful. However, if I hear «I looked it up on eBay and it goes for xxx» one more time and talked down to by that man who works there, i will donate and shop elsewhere.

I LOVE Carolines. I kind of don’t want to share this little gem with anyone else.
They are a non-​profit, and give back to the community. They repurpose and fix up old furniture, and offer great prices (I got a vintage, sage green bedside table for $ 75). They have a lot of cute, old-​fashioned china, some fun clothing to look through, and a lot of décor/​furniture.
The people that work there are very sweet. And the resident poodle was wearing pearls last I went in. What more do you need?! Great place to find things for your home, or for a rustic country wedding.

I love this store. The ladies working there are so friendly and make you feel wonderful whole browsing through their stores. There is a little bit of everything and some real treasures to be found. I discovered this place by accident and I’m glad I did! This place is a gem for our community too! They are a non profit and give a lot of money to Easter Seals etc all locally!!!

This was an awesome little thrift store! My family is all about deals and great finds, and this little gem is near our house! I don’t know why we’d never noticed it before.
That being said, they were oddly obsessed with closing at 5. Yes, it was a Saturday and I know that the workers/​volunteers have lives and are working out of the goodness of their hearts… but if a place says it’s open till 5, I expect it to be open until that time. We walked up and were looking at the stuff outside when a women came up abruptly and was like «If you’re going in, go in now.» And my mom was like, «Oh, do you close soon?» and the woman says «We close at 5.»
So we look at the clock and it’s 4:50, ten full minutes. We walk in and you can just feel the other two workers tense up. While we’re in there, they casually bring up closing at 5 MULTIPLE TIMES in the conversation between the two of them («Do you think we have time to fold these?» «Well, we DO CLOSE AT 5»). So we find some cute stuff and pay (by 4:55) and my mom mentions that she’s looking forward to coming back to look around more, and yet again one of the women is like «We’re open tomorrow at noon, but today we close at 5.»
Calm down, Captain! Honestly, this visit was like some sort of twisted drinking game. I know it must be frustrating to work in retail and have people staying beyond the closing time, but this was a little much. Again, love love love the shop. I’m not angry, it was actually pretty funny, but someone else might not have appreciated it.
Tip: On Saturdays, they close at 5.

I shop at this Thrift store, and had done for many moons, I discovered it by accident, since I am in the neighborhood, often and saw many colorful items outside the doors every day it was open. Most remarkable is the good nature of the people who work there and how lovely the items are displayed and cared for that are for sale. Apparently there are elves in the back cleaning and preparing the merchandise for resale, since most of the items look almost new. There is a new location next door now that has furniture too! wow! Who can imagine the energy that can be generated by folks who want to create good will in our community, all this for humanitarian goals. All profits go to non profits that assist youngsters who are in need of care for a multitude of reasons. If you need a dress for your next gala or some nice cloth napkins or even salt and pepper shakers or some beautiful baby clothes. Look no further. Caroline’s Thrift Store might have just what you need.

WOW, my friend & I read about this shop in the newspaper, and we were not disappointed. I found some great items and wonderful books at ½ price. We’ll be going back and donating too. Great store.
Betty Wadler