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The Salvation Army
Categories: Home Decor, Mattresses, Antiques, Furniture Stores, Kitchen & Bath [Edit]
1701 33rd StBoulder, CO 80301
(303) 939-8502
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
4 reviews for The Salvation Army
Don't go to the Salvo.
The deals are all mine!
Ok, my own personal greed aside, this place is awesome. I've shopped salvo and goodwill in several states, and this is seriously one of the best I've seen. The quality of goods that people donate in Boulder is superb. The furniture is frequently the quality woodwork that you just don't find at good prices any more. The clothes are generally in excellent shape, but if you're handy with a sewing machine or at least a patch kit, you don't need to shop anywhere else. Seriously. Well, ok, you'll still need socks and unders. :)
They have a collectibles cabinet where you can find high quality gear like microscopes and SLR cameras. They have collectibles. Video games, televisions, computers, typewriters, humidifiers (a Boulder Essential!) and more. You can get cookware, dinnerware, and furniture of all sorts. Just name it.
The people there are EXTREMELY polite, helpful, and just nice. You may even make a friend.
In response to Alexandra's post, regarding prices... well, I'll refrain from comment on that post. But I will offer my rebuttal.
Listen, the salvation army is a Charitable Organization, and they use the store to fund their charity.
In addition to that, they have developed the PERFECT price scheme. They put a slightly elevated price, along with the date, on all their better items. When it goes out on the floor, it's full price. If someone with money and taste wants it, they buy it. If not, the price slowly drops. Eventually, it will drop enough that even Alexandra could afford it. Sometimes, though, I buy it first. And sometimes, someone with more money than me buys it first.
Take for instance, this gorgeous apothecary cabinet that came through a month or so ago. It was real wood, painted, and at least a couple decades old. Lots of small drawers with glass fronts. It was in BEAUTIFUL shape. It was also around $200 bucks.
Now go find something similar in an antique store, and then tell me $200 wasn't a bargain.
Well, I was hoping it would get overlooked until the next 50% off sale. Unfortunately, it didn't. Because someone realized both its value and worth.
The way they do it, they are able to sell items for what they're worth, and they manage to sell basically everything in the store. This is awesome for two reasons, and if you shop thrift stores regularly, you know what I'm talking about:
1. The charity doesn't get ripped off trying to sell things for a small portion of their worth, ends up unprofitable, unable to pay their employees well enough, and eventually looking like a dump.
2. The store doesn't end up a dumping ground for everybody's crap, thereby making it impossible to find the 3 good items at the bottom of the pile, looking like a dump, and suffering as a result.
Donate to the Salvation Army.
Shop at the Salvation Army.
If you find something you want, at more than you want to pay, play the odds and come back on their next 50% off sale.
Everybody wins.
What kind of black-hearted human being gives two stars to a Salvation Army?
This one, apparently.
I don't want to be gratuitously mean, and I don't think I AM doing that. This place is simply not a fun place to shop at, and I'm not about to sugarcoat or lie about it.
I got a great Lazy Boy couch here for something in the neighborhood of $100, which was a great deal, I thought. Had cat hair on it and the left mechanism was a bit sticky, but hey, $100, right?
But could they unshrinkwrap the couch so we could test the mechanisms? No. Could we do it ourselves? Yeah. Did they have any scissors we could borrow in order to do this? 'Sighhh... they SUPPOSE so.' Could they hold it for me until I located a friend with a pickup (a few hours at most)? No. Could they help us carry it out to the back lot? No. Did they have a cart or something we could load it on? No!
And not only 'No', but rude 'No's' at all turns. The lady looked positively put out by the fact that we dared to be in her store, buying furniture.
We handled it, we got the couch out, and no thanks to anyone who worked there.
They frequently don't know how much anything is (since tags are always falling off), the fitting room door is about lower chest-height on me, and you have to dig through mountains of stained, broken stuff before finding anything remotely buyable.
No thanks. And let me clarify! I am a thrift-store nerd. Practically everything I own is used. And still... no thanks.
Serviceable Salvation Army store, but hard to find. Has usual discounts that change day to day. Lots of t-shirts from various local colleges, high schools, or bike / run marathons. Found one of a volleyball tournament, and I don't even play volleyball well. Ha!
Very hard to find; must turn left off of Arapahoe and it's on your left.
I am not sure why this Boulder Salvation Army thinks they are so incredible, but they obviously do, because their furniture is always way over the top pricey... I mean for the Salvation Army, am I really going to pay over $200 for an armoire? Now I support the whole non-profit\ thing, but I think really what this SA is doing is taking advantage of the Boulder wealthy crowd... And their little kids too!
I will admit that this Boulder location does has some good finds... I found some great wooden bowls and colored glass bottles... and I will admit it, they have some good furniture finds... I just don't find the finds to be that financially feasible.
* Star one for being a nonprofit that helps the less fortunate
** Salavting star two is for free Boulder parking
*** Furnished star number three is for nice furniture selections
Star four and five were taken away due to the highly priced items... I want to support I really do!
