Thrifting in San Jose, CA (Northern California)

The biggest thrift shops here are Goodwill, Salvation Army and Savers. There are a few smaller ones, which I rarely go to (American Cancer is just too 'expensive' for my taste), but I do try and get around to sample wares from all the stores time to time.
Goodwill has now started buying truckloads of old merchandise from Target. It is in ALL of their stores. It is good and bad...because now I can find NEW bras and panties...which I'd never buy at a thrift shop. I hear they buy literally truckloads of merchandise, so they have no idea what they are getting. I've bought Issiac Mirazi bedding, clothing, bras, panties, jewelry, electronics, etc. The prices are fair for what you are getting, but they put a 'white tag' on it...so it hardly ever goes 'on sale'. They have even turned 3 of their stores into 'new' items only; all from Target. It was depressing to head into one store that used to have used clothing, only to find it now resembled a messy Target, with stuff everywhere: patio furniture, bug sprays, bags of dirt, dented pet food cans, etc. I'd prefer to buy this kind of stuff at Big Lots...but they must be making money if they have stores dedicated to this stuff!
I heard from a ex-Goodwill manager that store managers actually have sales figures they have to reach PER DAY. They do not recieve bonus or anything, but do have numbers they have to reach for sales. This was a stunner for me--they aren't like Macy's or Nordstroms. I heard the managers salaries are very low, and of course, the corporate offices salaries are very high. I also heard that when managers do well with selling, they can't be 'promoted'...as there is no where for them to go. This policy needs to be changed! Good managers need to be promoted to sent to other stores to get them up to par, and freshen the merchandise. People learn from others, and these managers should be able to 'roam' to other stores to help.
What is great about San Jose, is we have 'city wide' garage sales. We've found some great stuff in numerous cities that participate (on different months of course), and lots of people sell too. they even put ads in the local paper telling you. You can't believe the crowds of buyers driving slow on the streets...
And, we have a number of very wealthy Silicon Valley types who dump stuff after they are bored with it. I've found newer Coach bags, designer shoes and clothing, you name it.