hey there, seattleite here...actually in the Lynnwood area...my favorite places are the Ballard, Shoreline and Lynnwood Goodwill and the Edmonds and Lynnwood Value Village stores...best times to go are when the doors open, you get the first pick of whatever was put out on the floor the night before or earlier that morning before opening...it's also the best time for customer service from employees: they are 'fresh', just starting their shifts, jacked up on coffee (and hopefully nothing else) and usually greet first morning customers with a smile and a 'how are you doing today?' - saturday and sunday afternoons are worst because that's when everyone goes that works full-time:
reviews: Ballard goodwill - great selection of housewares, the best I've found so far...clothes however always seem picked over no matter what morning I show up there, even at opening time...gets packed with people VERY quickly
Shoreline goodwill - seem to have the biggest selection of clothes - a clothes shoppers paradise that will make you remember why you stopped buying retail in the first place - store is set up nice and seems big, bright and clean - housewares selection is 'decent'
Lynnwood goodwill - two blocks from my house, so I go here fairly often...decent selection of clothes and housewares...dressing room doors are usually always 'ajar' so you don't have to summon an employee to open one which can be a godsend when you've been spending over an hour throwing clothes in a cart and just want to get the trying them on part started ASAP
Value Village in Edmonds and Lynnwood - Value village stores undoubtedly have more clothes than Goodwill, but they are pricier than Goodwill by anywhere from $2 to $5 per item, depending on what you get....dressing rooms are also very small and sometimes you'll get a cranky employee to remind you of the '3 items per dressing room' rule...which no one seems to follow anyway - housewares at Value Village seem to be more knick knacks then anything else...if you want more eclectic houseware items and better variety for housewares then Goodwill is definitely better than VV for that sort of stuff
St Vincent De Paul stores in Lynnwood and Everett (and probably other ones as well in the area) have all clothes for 99 cents on Sundays only...be there when they open on Sunday because a lot of people know about the Sunday sale now and the store will be picked over within an hour! These stores tend to be dustier and dirtier and they're small so selection is small as well, but worth the occasional Sunday trip if you want to try and find a clothing bargain - a side note: the one in Kenmore does NOT participate in the 99 cent Sunday sale..I found that out the hard way
I would love to hear about other thrift stores that aren't chain stores that I may not know about in the general area that someone else has been too and liked....thanks!
