Reviewed March 22, 2014
So, I'm now comfortably ensconced in my new Lowertown St. Paul digs, spring is in the air (sort of), and my good friend Dorene invites me to do lunch and some end-of-season thrift shopping. Did I jump at this chance? Well, duh. I needed all kinds of stuff for the new place and, like most of us at this point, I have major winter cabin fever. Time to bust out the single dollar bills and fill up the Hefty garbage bags with lots of new second-hand stuff. (Ok, I don't really use Hefty garbage bags. I just said that for dramatic effect. No offense to Hefty. I actually use my fire-engine red Dooney tote when I shop ' cause, you know, I be stylin'.)
The first place on our list was the Salvation Army located on Fairview Drive in Burnsville, (formerly 14101 Irving Ave.South), a side of town I had never shopped before. I came in looking for lots of stuff - bedding, bath mats, sheets, spring tops and whatever else I could find to add some spring zest to the new place. I found almost everything I was looking for - two high thread count sheets (one of which was brand new) each for around $5.99, two beautiful white embroidered linen pillow cases for a couple of bucks, a lovely pink bath mat (let's face it, the best place to find cheap furry bath mats always seems to be the Salvation Army), a perfectly tailored, beautifully fitting Express spring jacket for $6.99 and a great Target leopard print top for work days for about the same. Dorene made out like a bandit in the purse department, picking one faux Kate Spade color block number that easily could have passed for the real thing.
Now, at this SA I really didn't see anything much in the way of "designer", such as you can find over in the Bloomington SA if you look real hard, but this one certainly won the top award in several categories: merchandise care (both Dorene and I were impressed - no grubby, wrinkly stuff to be seen here), cleanliness of the facility and the simplicity of the layout - do you hate going to places where there is no rhyme or reason to where they place things, just throwing all the stuff willy-nilly on racks for YOU to figure out? Me too. Well, here the merchandise was placed politely by size, type and color, and I found grabbing things to throw in my cart very easy - all I had to do was roll it down the aisle, jump, grab and pull, and before I knew it, I had my shopping cart full to overflowing.
Which, when all rang up, came to a grand total of $37.00 for two king sheets, a bath mat, two tops, a blazer, two pairs of workout pants, two pillowcases and a great pair of comfy black slippers. Not high-end label stuff perhaps, but perfectly usable just the same. More wonderful still, that feeling of triumph at a superior thriftdogging experience, long missing this cold and barren winter, washed over me anew like liquid sunshine.
The Salvation Army in Burnsville is a great place to start your spring thrifting romp. If the selection is still as good as it was on the day we went, then you, too will surely feel a bit of sun under your pits as you raise your arms to grab stuff. And that, as we Thriftdoggers know, is a great way to start the spring.
The Salvation Army
Now, at this SA I really didn't see anything much in the way of "designer", such as you can find over in the Bloomington SA if you look real hard, but this one certainly won the top award in several categories: merchandise care (both Dorene and I were impressed - no grubby, wrinkly stuff to be seen here), cleanliness of the facility and the simplicity of the layout - do you hate going to places where there is no rhyme or reason to where they place things, just throwing all the stuff willy-nilly on racks for YOU to figure out? Me too. Well, here the merchandise was placed politely by size, type and color, and I found grabbing things to throw in my cart very easy - all I had to do was roll it down the aisle, jump, grab and pull, and before I knew it, I had my shopping cart full to overflowing.
Which, when all rang up, came to a grand total of $37.00 for two king sheets, a bath mat, two tops, a blazer, two pairs of workout pants, two pillowcases and a great pair of comfy black slippers. Not high-end label stuff perhaps, but perfectly usable just the same. More wonderful still, that feeling of triumph at a superior thriftdogging experience, long missing this cold and barren winter, washed over me anew like liquid sunshine.
The Salvation Army in Burnsville is a great place to start your spring thrifting romp. If the selection is still as good as it was on the day we went, then you, too will surely feel a bit of sun under your pits as you raise your arms to grab stuff. And that, as we Thriftdoggers know, is a great way to start the spring.
The Salvation Army
13901 Fairview Drive
Burnsville, MN 55337
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