Well, this past weekend was a big sale weekend for the University of California, Los Angeles medical center thrift store ( UCLA hospital thrift).
This thrift has an interesting methodology. It actually holds back its best donations (best designers, best condition, antiques & highly sought after collectibles etc. ) for 2 or 3 really big "sales" per year. Now sales does NOT mean discounted! But this event is well attended. The shop closes for a week to prepare. At 5am, people are lining up. & this is a shop about the size of a Starbucks -- two dressing rooms & no bathroom. The crowd is usually a mix of bargain hunting fashionistas, antique roadshow junkies, ebay sellers & consignment shop owners.
This time I didn't do the early morning thing. I strolled in after noon.
Bought a vintage 22 inch pre-ban elephant ivory carved pikake (Hawaiian wedding flower) necklace $25 & angelskin nugget (not branch) coral 20 inch necklace $10, 3 pairs of leather shoes $18 a pair ( one Spanish, one Italian & a Dansko).
OK, the prices might seem a little high to the rest of the country but really -- this is Los Angeles -& just a couple of miles from Beverly Hills...& I am telling you, I think I got some bargains. The pikake necklace on eBay is $100 & up -- with antique shops selling it for two to three times as much in Southern California.
