From Our Home To Yours

I love this store because its bigger than most, and they have a huge kids section with good quality stuff. I talked to the owner yesterday and found out their purpose is to help those less fortunate. They have average prices, but often have sales, just about every day, and if you like them on Facebook, you get extra off. Cool handmade candles from beer and soda bottles, awesome vintage jewlery, good furniture selection and lots of housewares. Ok, weird thing is, I did a review for them before on Unilocal,and it dissapeared

I had high hopes for this place, because I popped over one day thinking they were open… they were «unofficially» open a couple days before their grand opening, and let me shop while they were organizing, sorting, etc. At the time, they had WONDERFUL items — brand names (Banana Republic, Gap) at reasonable prices (tops about $ 6.50) and in «like new» condition. I picked up a few things and was excited about my new hidden gem, near my home! I did buy a watch, only to realize when I got home that the watch battery was dead. It took the fun out of my new find that I had to go replace the battery before it was useful… but that’s my own lesson for getting overly excited and forgetting to check my purchases EXTRA CAREFULLY.
Now, fast forward a few months. I’ve popped in and every time it’s crazy. I LOVE thrift shops, and scavenging Goodwill for treasures (and there are some great ones in the area). I don’t mind putting in the time, and going hanger-​by-​hanger looking for gems. However, this place is less and less desireable. It’s family owned (and I LOVE supporting small businesses), but they let the kids run around like crazy. To the point where I had a child run smack into me playing chase. Toys were everywhere… the aisle of women’s slacks had a zillion outdoor balls (soccer, etc) laying in it.
Quality has gone downhill significantly. I really hope they read these reviews and if so, that they will remember one thing: QUALITY trumps quantity. EVERY TIME. I found some potentially cute things, but everything had issues — a cute Banana Republic pullover, with a big hole in the front. A button down with stained armputs. Pants missing buttons. Shirts that were faded, stretched, pilled, stained, etc. Pricing is «rock bottom» — they had the pants about $ 6.50 and then 40% off all clothing that day, but honestly, nothing was even worth a few bucks. I’d rather search Goodwill and find an awesome pair of slacks, new with tags, for the same price!
One reason I like to thrift is to find classic, quality pieces. I can balance out my wardrobe budget by both thrifting and retail shopping (I also love Banana Republic, Macy’s, LOFT, etc). The «brand name» I found following the grand opening was in bad condition, and a lot of «no name» merchandise.
I did wander the rest of the store, which is equally messy. Even the dressing rooms were blocked up (how do you try things on?) with boxes that I was told were new items ordered from eBay. In the shoe department, the shoes all looked like they should have been thrown out (since nothing was even of high enough quality for the Shoe Hospital to salvage with new heel caps or toe protectors). In fact, I gave up even browsing shoes when the one pair of «8 ½» shoes (their sticker) was really big on me. I looked closer inside the shoe, and it was actually a size 9. That was just annoying — how lazy was their labeler, not to write the correct size? It was hard to walk the way they put out things, and overall I just found everything very low quality. Even on their Facebook page (props to them for embracing social media!), they put up picstures but there will be multiple angles of terrible photos, uploaded sideways and upside down — and no info on pricing. A smarter social media marketer would use Facebook as «teasers» — fewer photos of your high quality merchandise, take great pics… have «models» wear some outfits put together from all store items (jewelry, dress/top&bottom, shoes, purse), and then put that in the display window. List pricing. Run «Facebook specials» to keep people interested, and to pop up in their newsfeed — «mention the word «BANANAS» today at checkout and receive 10% off all your purchases, etc. They also don’t carefully review their posts, so there are numerous typos. Don’t hold your breath on responses if you email or Facebook — they must be selective in which they respond to. I have experienced this personally, and have seen other people post and never get an answer.
Is «From Our Home To Yours» affordable? Sure. Would I recommend it? ABSOLUTELY NOT! There are just better options in the area, for both clothing and used furniture. Do I think this place will last? Honestly, no.
In short, I won’t be back — at least for a few months — maybe then I’ll pop in to see if there have been any changes. There is an awesome new «designer» consignment shop open now right at Westheimer & the Beltway. If you want a spacious, quiet, boutique-​environment (where people offer assistance, and take your hangers to start dressing rooms while you keep browsing), I’d hop that way. Whether you are looking to buy or sell, I’d head that way. You might pay a smidge more, but you will get really quality merchandise (they are very picky in what they allow, and offer a lot of professional attire) that is orderly, clean (in order to consign, everything has to be clean and on hangers) and friendly customer service.

I was very let down when I entered this business. The Houston Resale Magazine built it up to high standards. It was like a Salvation Army with outrageous prices. I will not go back.

This place is gross.