Minneapolis Salvation Army

Reviewed August 26, 2013

I love it when readers give me suggestions on new shops to visit. The Twin Cities is such a huge hodge-podge of thrift, designer resale and vintage stores, each one more fun than the next, that's it's impossible for even the most seasoned Thriftdogger to sniff out all of them. Even so, you ask, how could I  possibly have missed the granddaddy of all the TC Salvation Armys, the one right downtown at 900 N. 4th ? Heck, I dunno. I live in West Bloomington, people. Like most of my tribe out here, I'm a bit of an ostrich in the sand when it comes to going downtown.

However, the delightful Melinda S., recently relocated from New York, is no such sloth, and alerted me to the store as one of her favorites, and with good reason. Quite simply, the place has just about everything. Well, except air conditioning, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I went down there on one of the hottest, sultriest of days of the summer with a gentleman friend who I was dating, now deceased (meaning his identity as my boyfriend is now deceased. As far as I know, he's still breathing), and without a thing to wear for our dinner and a movie later on. But duty had called, and I (rightfully) put ThriftDog before laundry, figuring I could easily find a little something to wear from the shop. Which of course, I did.

The place is huge - two full floors of stuff. On the main floor is the standard vintage, gently used and one of a kind finds you will discover at most Salvation Army stores, and where you just might be able to find a unique treasure or two. Melinda N. mentions rounding up a pair of genuine Manolo Blahniks from the shoe aisle for 12 dollars, and although I had no such luck on my visit, I did buy a great pair of white satin ballet-style flats with leather soles for 3.99. The size of the place means that there is some of just about everything - shoes, luggage, dresses, kids wear and a decent sized men's section, where my male friend found a few things he was interested in, but ultimately decided to wait in the car for me without buying anything because it was too hot to try stuff on.

 

In terms of high-end designer finds, unlike the Bloomington SA I didn't see much that was  outstanding. It's really more of a place to go if you've just moved here and need stuff - but boy, can you get some. The downstairs, especially, is a real treat for Target addicts, because it's all Target off-stock, brand-new off-the-rack items that Target has cleared to make room for their new merchandise and donated. (It was there that I purchased my evening's outfit, a black, brand-new Target sun dress for 10 bucks and a cute overshirt for 12 dollars, also brand new.)

 

In addition to the Target clothes, the downstairs also offers off-stock Target furniture that you can buy for up to 75 percent off, as well as kids clothes, sporting good, shoes, underwear and toys. I'm even told you can even get a great deal on cosmetic items (Melinda N. did), although I didn't see any when I was there, so perhaps they sold out.

 

This downtown Salvation Army is a great time-passer if you are in the area. But I didn't spend nearly as much time there as I would have liked, and I recommend that you wait till the cool season to go there yourself, because it was hot as a furnace in there and they have no air conditioning.

 

Why this is I don't know, because the SA in Bloomington does, and a few measly fans simply doesn't cut it when the heat index is hovering around 107 degrees outside. The people working behind the counter all looked like they were going to be sick. When I mentioned that they really needed AC, the poor guy ringing me up shook his head and sort of half-moaned, "I know. We keep telling the manager, but..." I didn't hear the rest of the sentence because I think he choked on a sweat blob.

 

So, manager at the Downtown Salvation Army: Please do yourself, your employees and your customers a favor and invest in  central air. If your place was actually recommended by one of my readers, imagine how much wild fun your cash register will have if you provide both your new and  loyal visitors with a more comfortable shopping experience.

 

Salvation Army

900 N 4th St

Minneapolis, MN 55401

(612) 332-5855

 

 

 

 

ThriftDog, Where the H-E-Double Miley Cyrus Tongues Have You Been???

Well, I'll tell you...nowhere. It's just been a busy few weeks. Between obligations of the day job (the one that pays for my thrifting), the oppressive heat which has made me a bit under the weather (pun intended) and numerous summertime obligations, I haven't had time to post a review...until now. Watch for some new ones in the next couple of weeks.

AND...ThriftDog is going to Madison, WI next weekend! So stay tuned for reviews of two popular places from my cheeseland home town. Any of you who live, work or travel to the Mad City, I 'll give you a nod on a few shops you might want to check out.

So don't get your Coach bags in a wad. I'll be back soon.

 

---The Donut Queen

June Resale, Minneapolis, MN

Reviewed August 5, 2013

The other day while I'm in the checkout line at Sephora, the young lady ringing up my moisturizer compliments me on the lilac-colored Longchamp tote slung over my shoulder. We proceed to get into the discussion that handbag people always have about how ridiculously overpriced new Longchamps are - "Sure, they're trendy, but come on, a hundred and forty five bucks for a parachute-material bag with leather straps??"  I tell her that I just bought mine, which also happened to be brand new, for about a hundred dollars less at June Resale. Her jaw drops halfway to the floor. Whereupon I give her my ThriftDog card and tell her to watch for my upcoming review of said miraculous store where I purchased said lovely lilac bag. And here it is.

Haven't been to June Resale yet?  Oh, it's a gem of a place, located down in the trendy 34th and Lyndale neighborhood of Minneapolis. And when I say a gem, I mean that walking in there is like entering a pristine little music box of designer consignment. Everything is lovingly, almost reverently tidy. You can tell that the owners and employees really value their merchandise by the meticulous way everything is displayed. Shined Stuart Weitzman, Burberry and Chanel shoes laid out in perfect formation on the dust-free shelves, Rag and Bone jeans neatly pressed and hanging with military precision on the racks with other, pressed designer brands; bags by Gucci, Coach and Dior placed in eye-catching corners and on hooks to be seen in their best light. This is the kind of shop you may first just wander into because it's so darned inviting, browse a bit and then come back later to buy that one thing that really caught your eye - as I did with the lilac Longchamp bag, which someone bought in, brand spanking new, and lucky me got for only 50 bucks.

And there were lot of other things I would have bought, too, if my budget had been bigger. A divine pair of clear Stuart Weitzman plexiglass pumps. Sperry black patent loafers that would be perfect for fall. Adorable summer tops ranging from Jean Paul Gaultier to J. Crew. All reasonably priced  and all in excellent condition. And did I mention Chanel? Lots of Chanel. It's worth a visit just to be able to lay eyes on some of these exquisite vintage pieces.

Dawn, the store manager, couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating, even selling me a pretty jute Ballard bag, which was to go on sale in a week, for the sale price while I was there. She pointed out other great shops to check out which I will take her up on, and we had a nice discussion about what a treasure chest of amazing designer consignment the Twin Cities has become.

June was voted "2012 Best of the Twin Cities Designer Consignment" by Minnesota Monthly and  "Best of the Twin Cities - Best Insider Shopping" by Mpls St. Paul Magazine, so I'd say all these other Twin Cities shops have a pretty high standard to live up to. I'm giving it a blue ribbon myself, and just might have to return to buy one of those vintage Christian Dior pins to celebrate.


June Resale
3406 Lyndale Ave. S.                                                        
Mpls MN 55408
612.354.3970    
http://juneresale.com/

Salvation Army-Minneapolis Arc, Bloomington, MN

Reviewed July 21st, 2013

This Salvation Army thrift store, at the corner of 98th and Lyndale in Bloomington, has only been around for a couple of years. I know this because I was there the first weekend it opened in 2011.

Yep, that was me, right alongside the stampede of other ladies who had heard on the local news that there was going to be a bunch of authentic Prada bags on hand, donated by an anonymous source, for less than twenty dollars apiece. You better believe I galloped down there, only to find out that yes, there had been real Prada bags there and yes, they had sold out in a matter of minutes, probably to be resold for much higher on eBay.

But you might see where I'm going. This store gets some a-mazing stuff in amongst the usual donations of the charity store variety, and you just have to look diligently to find these prizes.

For example : A Kenneth Cole genuine leather tote for 6.99, suede Prada pumps for 12.99 (yes, the real deal), a robin's egg blue Wilson's Leather jacket for 35.00 with not a spot on it, several pairs of like-new Steve Madden boots and almost all of my Ann Klein work blazers and Banana Republic little black dresses. For chump change. This place is a bonanza.

Now, mind you, this is not high-end designer consignment. You're at the mercy of whatever people happen to drop off that month. And of course, you'll find stuff from clothes to furniture to electronics to bric-a-brac to books to used lamps and toasters, in brands ranging from crap to Target to Ralph Lauren, in stages of life ranging from brand-new to rather worn. But what's fun is the sheer mystery of what you might uncover. Shopping there is like going on a designer treasure hunt. You never know when there's going to be a real Prada mixed in with the Mossimo's, or in my case, a breathtaking robin's egg blue leather blazer from Wilson's mixed in with the Old Navy. They have large, clean dressing rooms where you can really twist and turn as you try on stuff, and there is even a Starbucks right next door in case you need a pick-me-up from the all that energy you're exerting in thrift heaven.

They have an excellent supply of clean used bedding (I've bought many a cheap comforter here, as I tend to discard them regularly due to cat-barf stains), nice rugs and decent electronics. I've even found a pair of awesome earrings or three. Can you tell I come here often? Probably two to three times a month.

All that being said, let me address the gently used elephant in the room. I know the SA has been accused of homophobia in the past, and friends have asked me how I can shop there. My answer to that is that I love this store too much to give it up,  I'm not informed enough on the politics of SA to make an opinion, I don't believe boycotting a store is going to cure homophobia anyway, and well, this is a shopping blog. (And that's about as political as I'll ever get on this shopping blog.) Besides, if the SA is homophobic, then what better way to appreciate our fabulous gay friends than to buy and gift them some cool stuff courtesy of the Salvation Army? I did mention they have a fab shoe department, right?



Salvation Army-Minneapolis Arc
728 Lyndale Ave S,
Minneapolis, MN  (952) 881-6197                                                                                              

The Vintage Studio, Minneapolis

Reviewed July 5, 2013

Imagine a place where the warm, soothing sounds of Frank Sinatra serenade you as open the door, gently following you as you peruse a light-filled space where you delight in fashions from a bygone era, perhaps one that you, like me, remember from your childhood. That's what stop at The Vintage Studio is like. This cocktail-chic consignment shop, a staple on the 50th and Xerxes thrift-store prowl, specializes in designer and upscale fashions and accessories from the 1930's through the 1980's. I've been here a couple of times now, and even though I'm more of a later-decade designer girl myself - being short and middle-aged, most fashions from the Ann-Margaret era make me look like a thinner version of H. R. Pufnstuf in drag - I still find lots of things to enjoy when I browse.

I'll be honest - even though I like the lovingly-organized classic bags, the brown leather-ish ottoman that looks exactly like one we had in our Family Room growing up, the black "Clockwork Orange"- type bowler that I came this close to buying one day and the lovely Paulene Trigere dress decorating the back wall, my favorite part of The Vintage Shop is the small collection of well-maintained wedding dresses. Not that I'm in the market for a wedding dress, but if I were, I would definitely look at these gowns. They all seem to be in the $250.00-$350.00 range, and vary in style from a simple,  long sleeved Trisha Nixon-style gown to older, flirtier and more ornate styles. The one that I loved - an off-white, short sleeved confection with lots of see-through lace at the sleeves, fitted bodice and ballerina-style tulle - I would have paired with the black bowler hat and white, lacy fingerless gloves, a la Madonna's first marriage, and looked totally celeb on my big day for a fraction of what Madge must have spent. Plus I would have had enough scratch left over to buy the black, ruched 80's cocktail dress on display nearby and dance the night away in it at my reception. You know, now that I'm back on EHarmony again, I just might have to tuck that idea away.

The Vintage Store has all kinds of lovely dresses, however, from little sixties cocktail numbers to bejeweled seventies "rich hippie" maxi skirts to Liz Taylor cigarette-holder-and-a-martini style designer caftans. Plus lovely old silver toiletry sets, fashion jewelry, scarves, ties, knick-knacks, fedoras and shoes. All looking, to this eye, well cared-for and, for the most part, reasonably priced for the quality (although, forgive me, but that pleather ottoman, of the same style that I used to stand on to beat up my little brother during weekly eposides of "Lost in Space", ain't worth no 48 bucks in my opinion, kids.)

If you live for "Mad Men", if you actually made it all the way through "Liz and Dick" because of the fashions, if every time you watch a rerun of "Valley of the Dolls" you feel like you were born into the wrong decade, then The Vintage Studio should become your next home. And, since an hour or two spent there is far more entertaining than watching Lindsay Lohan in a bad wig, I'd say you made a good choice.



The Vintage Studio
3016 W. 5oth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55410
(612) 929-2559

Fashion Avenue, Edina MN

Reviewed June 29th, 2013

Let's face it. If you live in the Twin Cities, love high-end designer thrift shopping, crave the best stuff  -  Louis Vuitton, Prada, Coach, Chanel, Burberry, Manolo Blahnik, David Yurman - at the most amazing prices and you're breathing, you already know about Fashion Avenue. Everyone who's in this game to win it knows about Fashion Avenue. So why ThriftDog,you ask, are you even reviewing this amazing mecca of consignment if everyone already knows about it? Are you bored? Lazy? Drunk? Groggy from a marathon watching of back-to-back episodes of all of Season Three of Game of Thrones?

No, friends, I am not. (Ok, I am guilty of the last one.) I'm writing about Fashion Avenue because really, if I didn't, you'd think me an amateur at this. Fashion Avenue is the place that out-of-town fashionistas go to first when they're in the Cities on the advice of their plugged-in Minneapolis friends. The place the local fashion and style celebs rave about on their radio shows. The place you go to if you have finally decided to splurge on a gently-used LV bag and you want to know for sure it is one hundred percent authentic. I myself have been known to stare blankly, eyes glazed and lips moist, into that locked glass case full of LV, Chanel and Gucci bags in the middle of the store for what seems like hours on end, at least to the point where the employees probably wonder if they should be calling the authorities.

Located in the trendy-upscale 50th and France shopping area of Edina (with another store, which I haven't visited, in Wayzata), Fashion Avenue has been on the scene since before I got my first tattoo back when Ross Perot was running for president. If you have any qualms at all about the authenticity of the merchandise, you need not worry - owners Gretchen and Lee Weisman and their team have been working with high-end designer merchandise for decades. What's more, they have extensive connections with the people who can actually afford this stuff new - designers, stylists, socialites and Couture store owners locally and nationwide. Heck, they have it stated right on their consignment contract that they throw "fake" purses away. How can you not love these guys? Regardless of your views on carrying a faux, you have to feel at least a little relieved that Fashion Avenue is doing their part to rid the universe of scary fashion items you really shouldn't waste your hard-earned money on in the first place.

That being said, this is not the kind of store where you will usually find stuff for less than 20 bucks - although I did once buy a beautiful pair of sterling and garnet earrings there for twelve dollars -nor will you only find luxury handbags. Fashion Avenue is laden with all kinds of yummy luxury and high-end items - suits, scarves, sunglasses, jewelry (yes, I regularly spot David Yurman pieces there), sportswear, athletic wear and menswear. The shoe rack is glorious, carries every important brand from Chanel to Coach and is always heavily bodied with hungry females. The prices are higher than a regular thrift store, but hugely competitive for the quality. (I mean, really- if you're buying a Louis Vuitton tote bag, which generally starts retailing at $800.00 and up, for anything less than about $500.00 gently used, chances are it's a fake). My most recent purchase there was a Longchamps tote - yes, one of those ridiculous utilitarian totes that last longer than cockroaches and Cher but are way overpriced new, IMHO- for around 50 bucks. It's a nice khaki color, sturdy and waterproof with the lovely leather signature handles and logo, plus at that price I still had enough jack left over to stop and buy groceries on the drive home to load it up with .

Fashion Avenue will be the first place I go for my next big quest - to find a perfect, gently used women's black North Face jacket, with logos on the front and the back, for fall. So far, I haven't been able to find one anywhere -- do people never get rid of their North Face jackets? I know if one is out there, but if there is, it will probably rest with these guys. So Fashion Avenue, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Fashion Avenue
4936 France Avenue South
Edina, MN
(952) 929-7919
http://www.fashionavenueresale.com/home

75% Salvaged, Minneapolis

Reviewed June 23, 2103

I happened upon this store by accident, on my way to review another shop in the area and got lost - pleasantly lost, it turns out. If you've never been shopping in the 50th and Xerxes area of Minneapolis, and you like funky vintage stores, you're in for a treat. I couldn't help but walk into 75% Salvaged on my way down 50th Street - who could, with all those welcoming little antique chairs and kchotchkes out there on the sidewalk?

I think the best way to describe the ambiance - and the stuff -  in 75% Salvaged comes from on their own web site, http://www.75percentsalvaged.com:

"...regarding the nature of the furnishings available at  75% SaLVagEd. . . they are intentionally rustic, shabby and distressed and have been revitalized & reinvented with 25% nEw-NeSs - new knobs, new paint, new (& vintage) fabrics, new "sha-zizzle" - while retaining their aLLuRiNg oLd sOuLS; and along with those old souls come some splinters, scratches &  scars from a previous life lived passionately, which I prefer to regard as"pERfeCTlY iMPeRFeCT""

You get the picture. And if you visit the web site, you can get a better look at some of the delightful treasures they offer.

It's a very quirky - and a very tiny - place, filled with all kinds of  wonderful, whimsical things to splurge on - vintage furniture, knick-knacks, pillows, candles in old jars, handmade and antique jewelry, tote bags and purses, each lovingly refurbished and whimsically jazzed up in colorful ways. My eyes went straight to the candles in the old canning jars, the groovy Papya Art Accessories (now tell me you can actually keep your mitts off one of those splendid luxe tote bags!), and this really cool, huge silver wire-knotted ring for fifteen bucks - perfect for the index finger  with a simple black oversized top and leggings - that I just may have to go back and formally adopt. I'm also very interested in those awesome Funks' Corn Feed slipcover chairs I see on the web site because, as I sit here on my threadbare upholstered Ikea writing this, my one-year old kitten is busily putting the last three possible welts into the side of it with his claws before the stuffing explodes onto the floor.

Even if you're feeling a little down and not in a shopping mood, this is the kind of  place that will lift your spirits just by going inside. Allison, the owner, is quite friendly and will tell you little facts and tidbits about the pieces you are interested and cheerfully shoot the breeze with you, as she did with me and several other customers who stopped in with their dogs.

This is a great shop on a street full of great little shops.  Why not bring your mom, your best chick friend or your Signif some Saturday afternoon and make a grand time of checking them all out? If you do, I highly recommend 75% Salvaged as a must-stop. But dammit, don't buy my ring.

75% Salvaged
50th and Xerxes, Minneapolis MN
612-554-5567
http://www.75percentsalvaged.com