The Thrill of the Thrift Store Hunt

I really enjoy the search for thrift stores. When we get to a new location and we’ll be staying for more than a night or two, I’ll look online to see if there are any thrift stores around. I usually use this website and yahoo to start my search. I’ll write down the address and phone number of the thrift stores. Now that this website has a map feature available I may print out a map too. Sometimes my husband will print a map of the whole area from our DeLorme Street Atlas software. He’ll even highlight the roads I should take. He loves trip planning so he enjoys mapping out my journey for me.

So while driving around trying to find the thrift stores I get to see a lot of the local sites, especially ones that may not be listed on a tour guide of the area. It’s always an adventure, no matter where I’ve been. I’ve been in towns that have only one main street so the thrift stores are easy to find; if there are any stores. Also many times I’ve searched high and low for the thrift store only to find out it has have moved to a new location. Now a new search must begin, so it’s never a dull moment.

My absolute favorite is finding a thrift store that isn’t listed on any of the websites. It’s like finding buried treasure. Some of these stores have had the greatest prices too; it’s hard to believe they’re not better known. I try and remember to get the name, address and phone number of the found store so that it can be entered on this website; but I must admit many times the thrill of the hunt has caused me to forget to get that information.

A good example of this forgetfulness happened around the middle of July. We stopped to spend the night in Chester CA. My eagle eye for thrift stores had spotted one just a few blocks from our chosen stop for the night. So after getting the RV set up I headed out to look for bargains.

It was a great thrift store! I found lots of books, clothing, and other items for family members that I picked up for very low prices. I had arrived at the store about 20 or 30 minutes before they closed. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to come back in the morning I was in a hurry to look around and get all I wanted before they closed. I totally forgot to get the stores phone number. I didn’t even write down the name of the store. A few days later I thought about the store and looked online and of course, it’s not listed anywhere! What a bummer! It was a great store and people would love to check it out if they’re in the area.

Please forgive my selfishness in unintentionally keeping these locations to myself. I will try to be a more considerate member of this forum. I must remember to write down address and phone numbers to share new-found store locations with my fellow thrift store addicts.