The Salvation Army

Best donation spot in Worcester. They have a dedicated area and person for collections. It’s a big operation, but you can tell that they’re organized. You’re not just dumping your stuff into a Salvo dumpster.

This is hit or miss, just what you would expect from a Salvation Army store. It is big with a good selection. I have found a few nice gently used clothing items for my young children, and occasionally there are some nice used toys and kids DVDs there for cheap. I have found a sweater or two there. My favorite is the kitchen section, especially if you like vintage finds. Sure, there is plenty of junk around but I found some adorable ice cream sundae glasses for next to nothing. If you like finding yard sale shopping, you’d probably like this store.

This is my favorite thrift store in the area. The clothes are nicely organized by color and type and always plentiful. On Wednesdays it’s 50% off ⁴⁄₅ tag colors. I only wish they were open later during the week!

This is the best Salvation Army store that I’ve come across in Central Mass. /​metrowest area, including another large one I used to use in Woonsocket RI.
Why do I give it such a good rating — the place is huge (occupies an old mill building, not sure what it was originally used for, as Worcester was top manufacturing town back in the day) and the selection consists of thousands of clothing items of varying quality, incl. brand new pieces (if you look hard enough).
A special FYI — Wednesdays are 50% all tags except the one they’ve listed as not included I think they are open till about 6pm and open on Sat. not Sun.
What kind of stuff can you find — here is a sampling of my purchases over past few months — Michael Kors spring ladies jacket with belt, in crisp white (found it online at $ 100) — $ 5 (after 50% off, but even at $ 10 a great deal), an Eileen Fisher — designer, thin deep red wool sweater with a $ 125 tag still on it — paid $ 4, and assorted ladies pants & tops by Talbot, Liz Claiborne, Jones of NY, or Ann Klein (I usually wear a Medium, sometimes Large), so my size is plentiful — most of the time the avg. price I pay is $ 3 – 4 per item. One item I paid «full price» was a black wool double-​breasted Ann Klein car coat for $ 8!
Who will get the most use out of this store — primarily females (just because of the volume of ladies clothing they get) which is separated by colors, tops from bottoms and further sep. by sleeveless, short or long sleeves, then sweaters are sep. from fleece or sporting apparel, and anything printed is also on sep. racks. Jeans fill up middle 4 – 6 racks. Only drawback — these are not sep. by size.
There is a men’s section in back of this huge, old mill store and everything is hung up/​sep. in the same way, but there is just less in men’s section. There is a children’s and ladies plus-​sized section as well — I cannot comment on these as I have not used them.
How to make best use of a store like this — if time is limited, just go directly to the racks displaying the colors or type of clothing that you need. Always look for the brightest/​most vibrant colors (even if white items) because these will be the least used. Look at inside pockets or along hems of pants, these will often show if item had been worn a lot or hardly at all. Crisp, clean pockets and labels/​washing instructions will also tell a lot. Look along the edges of sleeves or sides of pants for original price tags to be sticking out as there will be a fair amount of items never worn /​donated with tags still on them. If time allows, browse along all the racks looking for anything new or something that really sticks out (like silk, leather, good wool). Then see if it is in your size … I would not try to go through each item but look for the best looking stuff at a glance.
Another tip is to wear a tank top and thin, body hugging type of clothing (like yoga pants) with easy to remove shirt or sweater so you can try items over your tank top/​tight fitting t-​shirt. This sort of shopping is best if you pick out brands and sizes you are familiar with, so that you don’t have to deal with trying too much stuff on while there (take home, wash and then try on). They do provide about 4 dressing rooms but these can be a bit challenging.
It can be somewhat ‘hit or miss’ but if you stop in about every other week (pref. on that Wed.), I think you will find a couple of really good deals. Know your brands as they will often price similar items at same price — so you can get designer brands at same price as something which came from Walmart.
This may not be for everyone, but I have observed there is no ‘typical’ shopper at thrift stores anymore. I have friends and neighbors who work in upper-​mgmt. positions or with clients in the legal field and they shop here for their business apparel. There are parents trying to clothe their kids, there will students (from any one of the 8+ local colleges), young and old, in all shapes and sizes. Esp. in these tough economic times, I think this is smart shopping for anything that you’d typically wash before wearing. Clothes at leading dept. stores are in pretty rough shape in after holiday clearance sales.
My only gripe is how they staple their price tags onto the collars of clothing items. Take a good look to see if the material has been damaged from this. I keep a staple remover in laundry room and remove them carefully. Good luck!