ARES Thrift Shop

A really cool community thrift shop. They often have special discounts for students and faculty. There are many sales and promotions throughout the year. All yellow tag items in the center of the store are either 10 cents or 25 cents — I forgot, but absurdly cheap.

Friendly staff, reasonable prices, great location… Just attended their first annual Secondhand Sunday, and won $ 100 Ares bucks in a raffle. This place is fun!

Let me start this off by saying I have never stolen or attempted to steal a thing in my life. The other week I visited this store for the first time, found a few things I liked from their homegoods area, and made my way to the front.
At the checkout the woman behind the counter asked me if the labels on the items were the one’s I found them with. I told her yes and asked why she asked. She told me that it looks like they’ve been tampered with as «we don’t label our things like this» and told me that if I didn’t leave the premises immediately she would call the police and have me arrested for attempted stealing. I told her again, this was how I found the product and I’d be happy not to buy them so they can relabel them or she could tell me how much it was supposed to cost but didn’t appreciate the threats. She refused to talk it over and said I was not allowed to return.
I am not a confrontational person and don’t deal well with this sort of thing so I left in a flurry of embarrassment as other customers looked at me with unnecessary disgust. I had a minor panic attack, which I’m prone to when someone attacks me like this, upon getting out to my car.
Later on in the week I came back and spoke to the other cashier that was in there and talked to her about what had happened and how I felt mistreated and asked why someone like the previous employee can just make accusations like that and treat people that way. She asked me who it was and I didn’t get a name but remember her blue hair. Upon mentioning that she said that was the owner, THE OWNER, and must have had a reason to suspect me of stealing and that I was going to have to leave immediately.
I have never been treated like this and can easily say I will never come back, not because they asked me to but because of the way they made me feel like criminal when all I wanted to do was buy a salad spinner. There are better thrift stores that treat their customers more appropriately so I’ll just take my business elsewhere and encourage you to do the same.

Located in a large warehouse, Ares is a bit of a diamond in the rough. Although a bit dingy, this thrift is well-​organized, with welcoming staff, and always stocked. This is my go to for a GREAT selection of cheap, brand name jeans.

I was moving out of my house and had some extra furniture to donate, called Ares and within two days had someone with a truck who actually picked up the dressers and desk. The pickup guy was so friendly and nice. Later that day I got a call saying they had found 150 $ in one of the dressers that I had donated and gave it all back to me! No other thrift shop would do such a thing, such great people!

For over a decade I’ve been shopping at and donating to ARES in Boulder. A few years ago when it was purchased by the current owner the quality of goods and service improved immediately which has made ARES a stellar operation. If you’re locally owned by a woman you will always get my business when basic expectations are met, but ARES is beyond basic. The inventory changes hourly, the quality is unmatched by any other thrift store in Boulder County — they must hand inspect every — single — item that comes through the store. When I got married I popped in regularly to shop for decorations and vintage items to complement our theme. I love that ARES provides employment for dozens of people and they all seem to come to work with a great attitude. I’m always happily surprised by the service I receive. They also give back to our community and support people in need with their programs. Oh, and the music they play is great! I can get lost in there day dreaming about all the things I can do with my finds while a soundtrack to it all plays in the background:)

This is by far the best thrift store in Boulder! Every time I have come to the store it has been a pleasant experience. The staff has always been friendly and are in great spirits. Really great vibes and I love that they support a bunch of charities. They are extremely helpful in helping you find your way around their huge store (which has a great selection of reasonably priced items!) to find what you’re looking for. I was able to snag a spiffy coffee machine for under $ 10 and I was even given $ 5 Ares bucks for my purchase during one of their festivities (which clearly made this purchase a steal)! I also really love that they are pet friendly!

Good assortment of designer clothes. Not a great selection of boys clothes, furniture or coats. Nice people working there. Prices are excellent and everything is pretty well organized.

This is a wonderful thrift store. I mostly go for the clothing. You can find some really nice name brand clothing. I really like the fact that they donate so much money to different nonprofits, homeless society, humane society, etc.

This is a great little thrift shop. They write brand names and sometimes little comments on the clothing tags, which is a nice touch. Their selection of jeans is especially good. They also have lots and lots of kitchen ware, some furniture, books and DVDs, shoes, and the prices are reasonable.
Side note: some of the reviews here seem to imply that this shop’s cause is not as worthy as some others. From what I understand from having donated clothing here and subsequently receiving in-​kind donation receipts, they donate their proceeds to Boulder’s Safehouse (i.e., shelter and counseling for victims of domestic abuse). I cannot see how anyone would ever deem this an unworthy cause.

I almost don’t want to give this place a good review because it is such a gem and is never picked through like a lot of places. This is so far my favorite thrift store in Boulder. Staff is very friendly and they always have new interesting things every time I go in.

I don’t disagree with the other reviews here — thrift shops like the humane society are great (er) cause perhaps. And clothes will definitely be cheaper elsewhere — my Banana Republic dress shirt was $ 6. While not «expensive» compared to the original price, it’s not exactly a by-​the-​pound price.
What do they have? Lots of clothes racks, which is at least half the store. Even with all those clothes though, I only found a few jeans of my size, but I did find the aforementioned shirt. Browsing the cups and mugs was fun, they had lots. Very few small appliances. Small (but I found it interesting) selection of furniture.
Bottom line — there seem to be a lot of thrift stores in Boulder, I’d put this one on my second-​tier list of places to visit.

I’m digging the new owners and the fresh vibe!

Well, I don’t really have a lot to say here. It’s a metal building in a crummy location full of clothes and strange stuff. I don’t think their selection or the quality of the goods was as good as Salvation Army on 33^rd. The staff was nice and they had some cool lamps and weird old coffee mugs in the back. I resolved to buy the strangest coffee cup they had if I found some clothing I liked to get me up to their $ 5.00 minimum for cards. I didn’t find any clothes I liked however, so it wasn’t an issue. I am sure there are some gems in with the rags, but I didn’t find them.

I love thrift stores and this one happens to be very close to my apartment, so it’s the one I go to the most often. It’s a little dusty and a little dim in there, but you can be sure you’ll find a lot of interesting stuff!
CLOTHING
It’s true, most of the clothing is a little scary but if you know what you want, you might actually find it. I don’t recommend this place if you just want to browse. That being said, I found three awesome skirts, each for under $ 7 and in very good condition. One of them was a Billabong mini, so cute! But I digress…
HOUSEHOLD
Ares has a ton of furniture, most of it in pretty good condition. They have cribs, desks, dressers, shelves etc. And they’ll even loan you a dolly to get the stuff home if you lack a car and live nearby, as long as you leave some collateral, like a drivers licence. They have tons of vases, dishes, glasses and mugs, most of which cost less than a $ 1 each, which is great if you break them often, which my roommates do…
PETS
If you have a dog who loves tearing apart tennis balls and you’re tired of shelling out $ 12.99 for a set of 3 at Target, this is the place for you! They have a huge bin of loose tennis balls in the back of the shop for something like 50 cents a piece. If you have a smaller pet, you can usually find crates and cages in the back as well.
Other than that, you can usually find some neat stuff at Ares. Plenty of ceramic chickens and angels, glittery photo frames, VHS tapes you had no idea existed (i.e. «Homophobia in the Workplace» circa 1982) and plastic jewelry. Enjoy!

I’ll come into this place solely for the shoes. Whoever’s giving their old stuff to this thrift shop, at least one of them is a lady with big feet. They always have more than a few size 10, 11, and 12 shoes for me, and for that, I am grateful.
But otherwise, it just has the feel of a smaller, more cramped Salvation Army, with even more stuffed racks of clothing that practically no one would buy. I wouldn’t recommend coming here if you’re just on the lookout for clothes. But they have occasional sales on other things which makes their already dirt-​cheap prices totally un-​pass-​up-​able. You have to dig a little, but I found a really nice purse here for 3 bucks and a pair of fancy boots for 7. Their furniture and kitchen supplies don’t look bad either, though I’ve never been in the market for them when I’ve been at Ares.