Salvation Army Family Store

Salvation Army Family Store

2258 N Clybourn Ave

Chicago, IL 60614

(773) 477-1771

Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-9pm, Sun: Closed

Parking: Giant parking lot, free parking!

We found ourselves in Lincoln Park last Monday so we decided to hit up the giant Salvation Army off Clybourne. I went in with my expectations very low (are you noticing a trend?) because a 'big, fancy store' usually means 'big, fancy prices' and that never excites me. I entered through those great big automatic doors and was immediately overwhelmed. So I just kept walking forward and eventually ran into the jewelry/accessories/super fancy clothing and shoes counter. I saw a women's blazer priced at $499, a few pair of Nike Air Jordan-looking high tops, and a bunch of other stuff that looked brand new. I never ever shop the 'we think this is worth a lot of money so we stuck it behind glass' section, so I went straight over to the accessories and jewelry (yes, behind glass but for a different reason).

The bangle situation was pretty legit and the prices were spot on: $2.99 for the smaller stuff, $5.99 for the bigger, chunky cuffs. I saw a bunch I wanted but restrained myself. Can you spot the one I really wanted?

Instead of giving you the play by play, let me just sum it up: I'd find something cool, then I'd see the price tag and pass on it. Everything here is overpriced- even ugly, non-leather purses. They start at about $11.99. So, this went on and on until I gave up and went to the book section where my hubby was hanging out. On my way over to the books I heard an announcement over the PA that went a little something like this: "Don't forget to shop our Saturday sale where our tag of the week items are just $.69! From Marc Jacobs to Cole Haan, if it's a _____ tag, it's just $.69 Thanks for shopping Salvation Army - High End Resale!

That got my attention.

So, this is how their weekly tag sales work: On Monday, 1 color (let's say purple) is 25% off, another color (yellow) is 50% off. On Friday night after 6PM, yellow tags will be 75% off, and then on Saturday they go all the way down to $.69. Then, on that following Monday the purple tags move up to 50% off and another color will come up at 25% off. I signed up for their email list and checked out the "sales" tab on their website but it hasn't been updated since January of 2016.

Strength: Everything in the store is nice. You'll be hard pressed to find dirty merchandise, and the store is super duper clean. If I had to pick one thing, I'd say they have a fantastic furniture selection, it's large, well organized and reasonably priced. Check out these rad chairs I found, sold as a pair, for $60 (PS, I passed on them! Follow me on Instagram so you can go pick up all the cool stuff I pass on!):

Weakness: It's a resale shop, not a thrift store. They've taken the time to weed out all the 'junk' and only bring you the 'best' -and it's priced as such. You might not see this as a weakness, but as a thrift store junkie/purist I do!

Clothing: Everything is really nice. If you work at an office and need business professional clothing this is the place to look. You can find very current styles and trends for anywhere from $8.99-$89.99 and up.

Shoes & Accessories: High end selection at high end pricing.

Housewares: This section feels more thrift-like than anything else in the store. You can pick up dishware, frames, pots and pans but they're all just a bit more pricey than the same items at other thrift stores. I was able to pick up this (rare, hard to find!) Tiki mug for a friend of mine for under $3 which was a steal! I would have paid at least $6 or $7 for it.

Linnens: To be honest, I didn't even look for linens. I was so bummed out at how high the prices were I just kind of gave up. Oh! I did see a cute little vintage embroidered curtain panel -someone had stuck it in the kids clothing section- and it was priced at $1.99 which was pretty awesome, so maybe I should have checked out the linens?

Overall, I have to rate this as a 3/10 for a thrift store because the prices are so dang high. As a resale shop though, I'd give it a 7/10 because they do a great job at filtering out the muck. I plan to hit this place up on a Saturday in the near future (when I have a babysitter, homie don't play sale days with baby in tow) and I'll update and link to that post because I'll have a completely different outlook on the store if I can buy items for $.69 each.

And to really drive my point home, here is a photo of a white baby grand for sale for $1,500.92. It was rad, but. C'mon. I mean, I could see asking $1,500, but that $.92 really just puts it over the edge. Maybe I'll go back when it's on sale for $.69?