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Unique Thrift Store
Rating Details »
Categories: Used, Vintage & Consignment, Thrift Stores
2201 37th Ave NEColumbia Heights, MN 55421
(763) 788-5250
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
5 reviews for Unique Thrift Store
Whoa dude. There are folks who should take a chill pill.
It's not Neman Marcus or Saks crimenently. It is a thrift store and I think in the many many many years I've shopped here they have gotten better about marking prices. Not perfect as it is clearly noted, but better.
There are somethings to like about the expansion like first off, yay -- more stuff to peruse, but then there are some down sides. prices are higher, but you can still choose to only go on Tuesdays and holiday Mondays if you want. Oh, wait .. dang I should be there now.
One of the best things about the expansion is no more of that one strange ceiling fan over in the shrine art secions which was between the light and you and that woop woop woop of the blade giving you the willies because your head was starting to spin.
Unique is definately not for everyone and best when experienced with a good friend you know really well so you can create those inside jokes ... like how many points a billy bass is worth, but only if he will sing and bonus points if the battery is close to dead so he sings in slow motion. or you find that size 2 outfit with the spangles that not even the hottest person you can think of would ever be caught dead in that is absolutely *perfect* for your friend for her mother-of-the-bride outfit.
That alone is a reason to go to the store. It is also a good source for interesting items if you are doing any type of collage-style art and, then there are clothes and stuff for the family.
Labor Day Monday we got a like 10 by 12 rug in decent shape for $40 that will save us having to buy flooring for the cabin for the next four years. How can you beat that? Oh, and the quesadilla maker for $3.50 for my college son who is in withdrawal as we speak.
And, yes, I've shopped them all but Burnsville which still is the Holy Grail in my mind, but not so much that I can justify the $45 mile drive.
ps. leave the purse at home it just gets in the way
Dear Unique Thrift Store Columbia Heights,
This is the hardest Yelp review I've ever had to write. We used to go so good together, lazing our way through a Saturday afternoon, exchanging hugs (a.k.a. cheap crap) and kisses (a.k.a. money) without a care about the future.
But the future is now. You've changed, honey. You got bigger, which obviously is fine by me. Size matters, Unique Thrift Store Columbia Heights, and we're not lesser creatures for acknowledging it to be so. You're cleaner, too. I hardly ever smell that nasty spicy cinnamon spray that has saturated your innards so gratuitously in years past.
The changes haven't all been positive. Now when I walk in the door, I am greeted by an employee demanding that I hand over my purse for less-than-safe-keeping behind the counter. Why? Because you don't trust me anymore. Savers trusts me. Value Village trusts me. All the other thrift stores (YES THERE HAVE BEEN OTHERS) let me keep my purse. Only Sex World and Cheapo have made such a request of me before, but at least they do so consistently. With my luck and your lack of attentiveness, my credit card would slip out, you'd mark it "30", stick it on an odd shelf and I'd never see it again.
You know what you need to change? You need to change the horrendous pricing practice of defacing perfectly good books, toys and every other non-clothing item with a black oil crayon. Either it stays forever, ensuring that everyone knows I paid $1.80 for Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, or it comes off on my hands or arms while I'm shopping, thus leaving the ultimate price decision in the hands of the cashier. On a lucky day, the cashier will make an offer, usually no higher than $2.80, and I'll gladly pay it. Most of the time, I'm told that I can't buy the item. How you toy with me! You very rarely gouge (unless that shit came from Target, because Target is like heavens to you), so the reluctance to make a sale is confounding to me.
Like one of the greatest groups of four similarly dressed men used to say, We've come to the end of the road. Maybe I'll forgive you; maybe you'll try. In the mean time, I'll stick with the Winnetka location for all my cheap-crap needs.
Pal Sal brought me here. Never been. Wow, so clean and organized. So much well-sorted tchotchke and so little time. We burned up two hours in here. Got a silk suit for $5.95--now that's more like it--since I'll have to spend $20 on eco-friendly dry cleaning each time.
And the back room, well it looked so organized in the pricing and sorting area and pleasant with a pot luck on lunchroom tables set up with tablecloths for all the young Spanish-speaking workers. I wanted to work there.
An observation: I ask Yelpers and INS, what is up w/ this anyway? Is there a reason that it seems like only immigrants/emigrants/green card holders or maybe illegals work at this chain (check out the other stores of what I'm guessing is the same chain, ie., both Valu Village and Unique Thrift in St. Paul and probably other UTs around the cities)?
For a thrift store, this place is well-organized, well-stocked and pretty clean. Good selection of women's clothes and shoes. There's also a jewelry counter that has a mix of vintage gems and tacky costume pieces. I think it's far enough out of the city that it isn't completely picked over by ironic hipsters. There are plenty of staff members around to help you if you need it, which is unusual for these kinds of places. Definitely worth the drive.
One star for how they hang up the stuff. Everything gets a hanger. Socks, toys (in plastic bags), underwear (really? secondhand?), scuba suits (don't freaking tell everyone, but if you like tubin' and you want to hit the river before June, wet suits are necessary -you can find'em here).
Not only does everything get a hanger, but everything is actually hung up. No bins to rummage through, unseen mysteries to uncover (except in the back room, which is for employees only). Minus one star for that.
Plus one star for the little box of old sunglasses -always full of gems!
One star for for the bizarre collection of jewelry and "valuables" behind the glass counter. Usually an arbitrary group - knock-off Prada bags, glass carved chess sets, a set of armor - stuff like that. Worth a look.
One star for old electronics - foot baths! TVs! pancake griddles! hairdryers! speakers! Better selection than Salvation Army and Savers.
Minus that final half-star for the crowds. Crowds plus thrift floor smell equals nausea. Don't go on the weekend.
