Sometimes, there´s no need to get fancy. With uppity ¨consignment shops¨ charging department store prices for used clothing, the pool of true thrift stores shrinks by the month. Luckily, the meat and potatoes of thrift, the Salvation Army and Goodwill are still there with their $5 stonewashed Jordache jeans and 50-cent mismatched stilettos. It may take more digging than at funkier thrift stores, but there´s gold in them thar racks for obsessive bargain hunters willing to look. And clothing is not the only thing on hand — cheap dish sets, old books, much-loved appliances and only slightly dingy furniture have been furnishing folks´ first apartments for years. One can always count on the Salvation Army and Goodwill for the most extensive, if not the choicest, selection of goods in town. Plus, it´s charity. God bless ´em, and carry on Christian soldiers and other, nondenominational workers of benevolence.
Goodwill and Salvation Army have locations throughout the Bay area. Visit www.salvationarmyusa.org or www.goodwill.org.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.