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Salvation Army
Rating Details »
Category: Thrift Stores [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Noble Square, River West509 N Union Ave
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 738-4360
- Nearest Transit:
-
Grand (Blue O'Hare)
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
18 reviews for Salvation Army
YES THIS PLACE IS WAAAAAAAAY OVERPRICED BUT.....
I have found some killer finds.
I purchased a few black and white vintage photos that were AMAZING and a john wayne display piece for the release of the movies to vhs.... i got a kick out of that.
The furniture and most of the antiques are laughable because of the prices.
The staff is rude... but if you look past that they have some amazing things and with everything thats over priced you can walk out after having a good laugh!
Can't believe I am writing this considering I love thrift stores, this place is. the.worst. During training the employees must be instructed to price ANYTHING without a stain or smell or animal hair at a minimum of $10, the FAAAAANCY things having already been sifted out by the general rule "if it has a legible tag.....it's designer".... therefore Sketchers!!!! in the display case.
The merchandise is PRE-picked over to be sold by dealers and the rest put either in the "special room" or on the racks for an exorbitant price.
I suspect they think because of their local, folks will PAY, well no way.
I bet an audit of all Salvation Army stores would show this place is making the least.
I'll look else where for my second hand threads, thank you very much!
I honestly went here today to find a slinket for cheap. I'm too embarrassed to buy one at full price but think about getting one almost every other damn day. You would think with three floors, surely a slinket would be laying around SOMEwhere. I looked and looked but all my efforts were to no avail. And there was a lot to look at.
This place is three floors huge. The first floor is mostly furniture, etc. Let me let you in on a little secret. For one reason or another, they have a lot of unopened Target merchandise on this floor. From frames to storage to memory foam, they've strangely got a whole lot of stuff from there. So if you're a big Target fan (like me), go nuts.
Downstairs is their bric-a-brac area, mostly where old televisions and computer monitors come to die. So much useless junk for, in my opinion, too much money. The bottom floor looks like a burial site and it's mostly because no one is buying anything. If it were up to me, I'd put everything up for a dollar and just got rid of all that junk. But that's just me.
Upstairs is clothes, mostly. I couldn't find anything I liked, but then again, I think I'm wayyy over the whole "dress in used clothes to look cool" movement. Too much stuff to look at and no AC so I said SEE YA pretty quick.
Either way- not bad. I like places like this because it's like rummaging through a GIGANTIC garage sale- and who knows what you'll find? Just bring your patience along and skip the bottom floor for sure.
It's ok. Big, well organized. Mostly clean. Antiques or Collectibles are over priced, but have found new in package closeouts that are well priced.
I had such high hopes walking in when I saw this place from my rooftop with the huge sign pointing to the building. Everything is muy expensivo! I did manage to walk out with a great maxi dress for $6 and a cool Hepburn inspired black hat for $0.50, but at check out they charged my credit card $15. It took 4 other women to void it out and re-charge me $7.71, but when I checked my statement I was charged twice. Served me right for charging at a thrift store. You will be able to find some cool furniture and accessories in the 3rd floor side room, but you'll have to brave the heat and be willing to spend at least $50 an item. Not very thrifty, if you ask me. I did find a sweet stainless steel genie bottle I tried rubbing for my wishes, but alas no luck. I guess I'd have to spend the $98 on it for my genie.
WTH??? hahah I thought salvation army was supposed to be CHEAP? I'm a huge fan of SA because I always find awesome vintage pieces for like $1 so I was really excited to check this location out....but why is everything overpriced? Yeah, its for a good cause, but they shouldn't be ripping people off! I saw this "vintage" table set for $850. Haha wow.
This location has a really good supply of old leather jackets, 80's dresses, and old wedding dresses too----some were actually decent if redesigned.
I bought a book for $.50. Oh yay. hahah. Go here for the books, and nothing else. The SA in Lincoln Park is sooooo much better!!
I had previously thought Village Discount near Logan Square was the best thrift store in town, but now I believe it to be the Salvation Army by the train tracks. It appears a desolate and rather shoddy location, but the inside, in contrast to other area thrift stores, is clean, spacious, devoid of crowds on a Friday afternoon and FULL of nice things. You would even think at times that you were in a vintage boutique of hand-picked items. It does seem a bit "pricier" than Village Discount, as in a shirt might cost $3 instead of $1.79...but I can live with that.
Probably the biggest but definitely not the cheapest. The prices on furniture are absurd. Three very big floors are well organized.
Maybe if something is old and worn out and not of any particular significance it should cost LESS than it did 35 years ago when it was new.
I'm a regular at this thrift store for over a year now. This is probably the most pricey thrift store I've been in but its the biggest. I found my high top dinning table there for $150. It sells for $399 at target and its just like new. They have a huge furniture section downstairs and if you wait it out the stuff that's been there for a month goes on sale. They have a great "antique" section where I purchase my 1950's Westinghouse alarm clock for $35.00 which sells for $75 in a worse condition than mine. I found a slightly used Wii guitar hero set for $60! Its been working great for over a year now. So I've been very happy with my purchases! There are three levels of goodness in this thrift store and make sure to dig!
Being a prop person for theater really helps when it comes to planning something like your own wedding.....I know where all the best deals are and what stores have what. This is my favorite Salvation Army in the city. I bought a bunch of different shaped glass vases here, none more than a dollar, and sprayed them all white for a mighty classy effect.
The best part of this store is their basement. Their furniture prices have gotten out of hand, far too expensive. The third floor antique shop has some good stuff occasionally but their prices are a bit delusional sometimes too.
Well wait, this was in conjunction with my wedding planning so I better not give away all my hard-fought theater tips for free here. Point being, the basement has some great bargains on things that can help you decorate!
If you don't like dingy thrift stores, don't come. End of story.
This is the largest salvation army store in the country. It has three stories. The basement has a strange conglomeration of sports equipment, luggage, electronics, and kitchenwares. The first floor is furniture (which is actually pretty expensive, all things considered, but I have seen some very cool items in there), and a corner that does look like it's filled with random things donated from Target.
Top floor is where I love to venture the most. They have a sort of antique section that is closed half the week, and it's incredibly fun browsing through the massive amounts of china, strange old gadgets, and antique coke brand products. The other half of the floor is clothes, most of which are crappy. The south and west walls are lines with coats. I've snagged several great blazers off their jacket rack. It's hopeless to look through the jeans.
Perhaps the most fun I've had is in with some girlfriends and trying on the dresses in their back room dedicated to wedding and fancy dresses. It's unbelievable. Everything seems to be 70's and 80's and incredibly ugly, which makes it SO MUCH FUN and produces some awesome photos.
It is dingy and dusty and if that sort of thing bugs you, skip it. If you're looking for a really cute outfit, skip it. If you're out for an adventure or you like exploring, this is certainly one place to try.
I totally agree with the below post-- It is completely lame how they charge retail prices for things they receive for free... And I don't understand the rational for charging what they do... Lower class cannot afford their furniture... If the sold it for less I believe they would turn a quick profit, instead I think there banking on charging retail and hoping people see their purchase as a donation-- boo!
Also a side note--- I had to do community service at a Salvation army (won't go into details about why) -- but anything especially good that comes in goes directly into the employee that saw it first car. ( Not that this is still happening- but at the location I was at for numerous hours weekend-weekend that's how it went down!) so consider it-
Egad, if you've got a ton of money that you might as well just donate it to the charity, instead of trying to pick through all the bric a brac here. It's like walking through a museum, things are nicely organized and displayed but there is no way I'm going to spend that much $$$ on thrifted goodness. I'm surprised this place makes any profit from the merchandise because the prices are so high, they elevate my blood pressure. Now don't get me wrong, some of the stuff isn't total junk, but it's more then a sane person should be spending. Shopping at a thrift store means being frugal, not getting ripped off. Plus parking is a total pain in the ass in the area. I like how there is a sign that says that they don't accept $50's and $100's but it's unlikely that you will find anything under that price point anyway. What do they expect, you to carry a giant wad of $1 bills? Real thrifters, I urge you to go elsewhere!
As others have said their furniture is quite overpriced. For example; I found an Aneboda wardrobe that sells at Ikea for around $100 that was mark $150 a while ago. If you search through the clothes or the downstairs area you may find some decent finds though. Its worth a shot if you are in the area but not worth traveling there for.
Being that this is a Salvation Army Thrift Store, deals are sort of hit or miss as far as quality is concerned. Usually if you find something awesome, though, it's priced very fairly. Some of the things you find here you might wonder why they didn't get used for a found art project or painted in crazy ways to litter an eclectic coffee house or book store. Maybe the people who run the eclectic coffee houses and book stores in town should ransack the bric-a-brac basement.
The thing that I really appreciate about this store is that they seem to be well-staffed. The clothing racks are organized by season, color, and sometimes material. Their coats are cheap and you can find great winter accessories all year long. The racks and shelves in the clothing areas stay mostly well organized. You can tell that someone, or a few people, put a great deal of care into making the place presentable. Having worked in retail for so long in my life, I really find this to be very welcoming and I admire whoever put so much time into their work.
In addition to a ton of clothing, you will find a huge room full of antiques, a basement full of cooking items, toys, and knick-knacks, and a first floor overcome with furniture. I will admit that I think most of their furniture is extremely overpriced; some of it may be antique, but if I wanted to pay antique prices I'd go to an antique store. Given its location, however (Noble Sq) it appears that they get a pretty decent assortment of nicer furniture. Still too expensive for a Salvation Army in my opinion, but I often see things like leather couches, nice glass tables, shelves, you name it.
This store is dingy and smells sort of musty and dank. But I must say, it is HUGE and they have quite a selection, three floors and all. I furnished my kitchen with cheap silverware, glass baking dishes, and a blender for all of 15 bucks. It certainly is not all "hip" or couture, but it has a lot of character and charm.
Also, they have great tag-color sales, which most thrift shoppers are probably familiar with: "Today, PINK and GREEN colored tags are 1/2 off!" Also, they do have a small parking area, and they accept donations.
If I could give this store 0 stars I would! This place sucks! They are so overpriced it is ridiculous! It's as if everything was donated from Target and they are charging the list price for the item. It's not even the good stuff from target. Just tacky purses and other junk. Don't waste your time, go to Village Discount Outlet.
My daughter loves this place for vintage clothing, t-shirts and accessories. We have been making this a regular stop for the past three years during our annual Chicago visits. The furniture may not be a bargain, but the clothing is thrift store priced and there's lots of it.
Biggest shop in town. They have a whole floor of furniture, so come here if that's what you're looking for. Some is very nice, but is priced higher than I expected. This shop is three stories - basement and second floor - second floor is all clothing.
