Salvation Army Family Store

I am an avid thrift store shopper. I shop at the Salvation Army in Skokie, Unique, Savers, and Village Outlet. This is by far the worst one I’ve ever been to. The customer service is horrid. I went in this past Saturday for their 69 cent Saturdays. I was walking amongst the chaos, and Salvation Army worker, Latrille almost ran me offer yelling obscenities and cursing while rolling her coat rack out the back door, Scoffing and cursing at me telling me I should’ve at least said excuse me. This is no way to treat a customer. I informed the manager about it and he said he will have it taken care of (I doubt her actions will be reprimanded somehow, they are minimum wage workers). In conclusion, I probably would never want to shop here again after this incident. The place is so unorganized, it’s very unpleasant to shop in. The merchandise is way over priced for a thrift store. $ 29.99 for bedsheets. I second the other reviewer that said customers might as well go to Walmart.

I’m not going to promise you’ll find a gem everytime you come here, but I shop this location at least a few times a month and rarely leave without spending over $ 50. Huge selection of clothes, womens, mens and kids! Large shoe selection, large book selection and lots of furniture. I’ve found lots of nice name brand stuff… Keens, Converse, North Face, Lululemon etc.
I’m a pretty hard core thrifter, so any trip here I plan for at least an hour… sometimes up to 3. If you take the time to really browse you should come out with some good stuff. This is pretty well organized with friendly staff. Remember it’s a thrift store… it may have smells and be somewhat dirty… If that’s the sort of thing you like to avoid… Great! More for me :)

This place used to be my favorite. Yeah, it was kinda smelly and dirty but there was a lot of stuff to sift through and almost each time I’d find a great find at a good price. Those occurrences have dwindled over time.
After not having visited for 8 or so months, I stopped in today looking for a keyboard stand and just to browse. I was astounded at how highly priced things were. A lot of things were double what I would have expected before, and lot of things were more there than what you can buy brand new at any department store, any day of the week.
Not acceptable. The Salvation Army is first and foremost meant to help people furnish their homes and clothe themselves on a tight budget. They might as well go to Walmart and Target with these new prices.

L O S E R
Would not stop in even if I had time on my hands. I walked in and it smelled like someone had an accident. Yuck!
Selection left something to be desired. Did they get the rejects from other stores?
Shopping carts few and broken
They do have a good size selection of furniture.

agree with other reviewers, maybe their lease cost is high but I think their prices are too high here! for a plastic tray that they mislabeled, they wanted over $ 4, which I think I could probably get something similar at the Dollar Tree in the same shopping plaza for cheaper! on my last visit, which was a few weeks ago now, they removed the separate shoe display/​sale area and moved all the shoes to the top shelf of clothing racks. really? previously, they had both a shoe display area and some shoes on top of clothing racks — perhaps they did this because they were completely out of shoe display space? if this was their solution to a problem, I definitely don’t like it as a buyer, it would have been better to start eliminating inventory of duplicate or obviously-​worn shoes, which they definitely put up for sale (yuck). what about potential buyers that are shorter in stature or shoppers confined to wheelchairs? how can they shop for shoes from the top of 4′ tall shelves with racks of clothes underneath? the final straw that made me decide to stop coming here, was the fake Louis Vuitton wallet for sale in their display case. I mentioned the wallet to the clerk, and tried pointing out specific reasons why I knew it was a fake**. the clerk slipped the wallet back into the case and said no, it was a real LV. a manager was called to the front of the store for the aforementioned should-​have-​been-​$ 3 tray, but no manager was called for a designer wallet. whatever! +1 for the size and that you can see they –try– with this store, but it’s not good enough. **analysis based on direct personal experience with similar goods and articles online for sellers/​buyers of designer goods

I went to the check out to purchase two white shirts and one didn’t have a price on it. So the worker put the shirt to the side and said it needed to be priced. His English was broken so I didn’t quite understand. I said but wait, I want to buy that shirt. He said no it needs to be priced. I asked if there was someone who could do that? Well, no there isn’t he said. The shirt has to go in the back and won’t be repriced for a couple of days. I said, that’s ridiculous, is there a manager around. Surely a manager would see that this is a stupid situation that could swiftly be fixed. Well, she was standing right there watching the whole thing shaking her head no. I was dumbfounded. Thought I was on candid camera. The manager then said, let me look at it. She compared it to the other shirt I wanted and said oh they’re not the same shirt, I can’t price it! Are you kidding me? Of course it’s not the same shirt! You’re a thrift store! No two items are rarely alike! I stood there for a minute just speechless. Then I said, well, Im not going to spend my money here anymore and left. This place is not very customer friendly, especially for a place that’s profits go to help those less fortunate. Idiot policies! They should be ashamed.

It’s probably the best north side Salvation Army Thrift Store location. If you drive your own vehicle, parking is beyond sufficient.
Their inventories on furniture and electronics are massive! They have a huge venue to host lots of bulky items, so if you’re looking for something in these categories, I recommend you to come here first before heading anywhere else.
The sales this week featured tan-​tag items (25% off) and purple-​tag items (75% off on Friday after 6pm and $ 0.69 all day Saturday). If you’re a serious thrifter, you need to come when the door opens at 0900 SHARP on Saturdays. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see much $ 0.69-items left.
I wasn’t looking specifically for $ 0.69 merchandize. Shopping at a thrift store fulfills my nostalgic soul yearning for the late 80’s and 90’s to come back around. On the other hand, hubby likes to dig in the vinyls since he recently fixed the turntable he purchased at another SA location. While SA doesn’t have the best prices for vinyls, their vinyls consistently are organized and maintaining good conditions. For $ 2.99 each nearly mint condition vinyl record, I will most likely give it a go.
This one doesn’t have dressing rooms, but it has a communal restrooms for patrons and employees.
I like this location a lot, even though it’s a bit out of my way if traveling on foot. I probably will come every once in awhile when I have a Saturday off from work.

Couldn’t find my donation receipt for tax purposes. Called the Salvation Army and Robert from the Clybourn office, was so patient to look for a copy of my receipt. He was so patient and helpful – Very rare to find an employee with these qualities. Due to Robert’s professionalism, I will always consider donating to the Salvation Army (Whether it’s via donation center, collecting money in traffic, or the person ringing the bell during the holidays).
S.Leung

One of the best places for thrifting. I go here for all of my work clothes. Majority of the slacks I get from there are designer at awesome prices. Great discounts everyday. I know they have an awesome furniture buying program but I’m not sure what day is it on. The customer services is everything.

So yeah… The place is big. Lots and lots of things.
But it’s a thrift store right?
The prices on donated items are ridiculous.
There is so much stuff that you may be able to find a deal but I’m looking for cool vintage things and everything I’d be interested in is WAY marked up.
I even drive just to come here… just to check.
I’ve been here maybe six times over the last three months I have literally NEVER purchased a thing.
I have found a few things but when I pick them up and look at the price I seriously laugh. out loud… causing a little scene… because it’s crazy how expensive they make a used pair of underwear… jk about the underwear I’d never do that again since getting crabs.
Again just kidding

This place is huge! I have only been thrifting for about 3 weeks since I am moving and required to furnish the place. I only have a couple other places to compare this to, but this is nicer of the two SAs (The other one being in Skokie).
My star rating if for their selection of furniture and kitchen items mainly because that was the reason I’d visited the store. WOW! They had some pretty nice couches and chairs. AND I happened to go when the furniture was half-​priced. This is generally great, but I was bummed cause I didn’t have the means to get the chair I wanted home; it was too big for my car and even if I’d rent a cheap truck, I wouldn’t have room in my current apt to store it. Bummer. I wound up leaving defeated (without furniture) seeing as how I have to wait until moving day to get big items.
Anyway, along with the furniture, I found some nice ceramic plates and bowls, pots/​pans, and misc. kitchen items. I’m not keen on matching dinner wear, so their selection of 1 or 2 matching plates/​bowls was perfect. They even have a great section of sheets/​comforters. I don’t need these items, but if I had I would consider buying a comforter there because the few I saw were in excellent condition. They also have fabric, which is interesting. I haven’t seen that in a thrift shop before, then again, I am not exactly looking for it.
While I don’t go to shop for clothes, I came across some leather belts. I grabbed a few of the nice ones. Found 3 leather belts priced $ 2 – 3. Bonus!
I have not ever been a thrifter, but now that I have been to a few while furniture shopping, I would def come back to this one to browse again when I am moved in and have the space for more items.

For a Salvation Army, ³⁄₅ stars. Furniture selection was good; I left spending $ 7.50 on a nice little accent table, but I was disappointed with the housewares selection. Check-​out was so slow because the customer in front of me was trying to pay for $ 10 worth of merchandise with a $ 100 bill. She refused to use any other kind of payment. The cashiers couldn’t figure out what to do. Fast forward 10 minutes… My purchase took entirely too long to ‘record.’ Staff has to keep track of all furniture sales in a binder by stapling multiple sales tickets in different places, then the customer has to sign off on whether or not they took the piece of furniture with them. There has to be a better way of streamlining this process. However, I wasn’t going to complain. I got my best deal of the day at this location. Would go back again if I were in the area.

I go here a few times a year to pick up some random t-​shirts. YOu can get some pretty hilarious designs and ironic logos. All I ever really go in for is t-​shirts and they have 1000s of them, can’t speak to their other stuff though.

This is a hit and a miss most times. First time I came here I was utterly disgusted. Loud people, people shoving etc, slim pickings etc. I guess I went on a bad day. Decided i’d give it another go since I lived so close and walked out with some ralph lauren, express, and banana republic apparel. I guess this salvation just takes patience. Will return soon.

I went there with my 4 year old son, he found some car. I did NOT check the price, I knew where I was and that I can afford it. What a surprise at the check out — this toy was price as15 $. I said thank you, this is to much and left with my sons said face.

This place is like going to a vintage clothing store without the ridiculous prices. Remember, however, you get what you pay for, so many of the items they have displayed are not perfect and/​or may be outdated. Although, you may find a diamond in the rough like I did.
I came here a few days ago hoping to find a white vest or pants when I found a suede fedora just hanging in the aisle. It looked brand new and fit perfectly. Its an ‘Adam Premier’ fedora made by The Miller Bro Hat Company. I’m assuming that its rare b/​c I did a search online, and the only thing I can find on them are some auction sites selling this brand of hats for at least $ 40. I got it for under $ 4!!!

Tried to donate several things here and the people were so unbelievable rude that we had to leave. They would not tell us what to do with any of it and had NO idea about the receipt they were suppose to give us. They were too busy arguing and being nosiey about a fight about some darn pillows. Geesh. Who knew trying to donate would be such a headache.

Finding the flashy blue feather boa with gold tinsel was a coup. Realizing that the cashier didn’t ring me up for it because he «thought it was part of my outfit» was… well, downright flattering. I mean, I’m not sure where this guy thinks I work that I’m wearing a feather boa at noon on a Tuesday, but it sure sounds like it’d be fun there.
But I digress. This is a pretty huge Salvation Army, I’ve found everything from a BCBG blazer (new with tags) to my Marilyn Monroe Halloween costume. It’ll take you an hour to properly dig through a few aisles of clothing, they’ve got a LOT out. They do staple the price tags to the sleeves/​necks of garments, so thin fabrics do end up damaged (feathers, on the other hand, do not). I wish they would staple it to the sewn-​on label/​tag (hint hint). There are no fitting rooms, but there are a few full-​length mirrors near the cash registers, so wear a skirt and a tank top & you can try on whatever you want over/​under your street clothes. This also makes you very popular with other customers.
The housewares section leaves something to be desired and they’ve got too much miscellaneous crap piled up on the shelves above the clothes. (Memo to mgt: Less is more — people are more likely to actually look through stuff and buy it when it’s somewhat organized.) This is still a pretty damn good spot to spend my lunch hour.
After being honest and paying for my boa the guy asked me if I wanted a bag. Tsk, tsk, silly man. Clearly I looked so damn good in it he thought it was mine already. Like I’d take it off now.

I agree with first reviewer, Kathy. Found a pair of Polo jeans and Theory dress jeans. Each less than $ 3. Both like new. There’s no dressing room. Just a mirror in the open. Nearest washroom is found in Starbuck’s about a yard away.

This outpost just opened July 31^st. It is a gigantic store — the space formerly occupied by the Frank’s Nursery & Crafts. It’s entirely filled with men’s, women’s, kids clothing, housewares, small appliances, toys, books. You can spend a lot of time here, walking aisle after aisle, and not explore everything.
There’s tremendous selection, and I concentrated on women’s clothes, toys and books during my visit. There’s an attempt to organize clothes by color although patterns are all lumped together willy-​nilly. Not organized by size, so you’ll find XS next XXL. Some in good condition, others not so much. I ended up with an Ann Taylor Loft shirt, a Talbot’s sweater and a long-​sleeved knit shirt. (avg. price = $ 2 each). Note: they staple price tags to the front of the garment. So even if something looks presentable, if it’s a thin knit or delicate fabric, the staple will leave holes no matter how carefully you remove it.
With the toys and books sections, selection spills out onto the floor from the shelves. As with clothes, if you want something good, a little (or a lot) of digging is necessary. (Yay for finding David Sedaris’ Holidays on Ice for 50 cents). My advice is go when you have time to spend searching; you’ll more likely score something that way. There was a wedding dress for $ 50 hanging by the checkout that day, so you never know what awaits.
I brought in a box of used kids clothes that day. It was chaotically busy and no one could direct me, so I ended up leaving it by the counter at one of the registers. But if you want a receipt for tax purposes, there’s probably a designated place to bring your donations — I just don’t know where.