Salvation Army Thrift Stores in North Jersey: A Review

If you're like me, you want your kids and yourself to dress well, in quality clothing and not disposable mall fad clothes. And if you're also like me, you need to find major bargains. Your shopping salvation is the Salvation Army. You won't find cheaper prices anywhere, and if you read this, you'll know which stores are worth your time and money. Shopping could not be easier since clothing is grouped into colors and everything has a price tag stapled on. There is almost never a missing price tag. The price tags are colored and everyday there's a color that's half price. But on Wednesday everything is half price except for one color tag. Wednesday is definitely the best day to shop, but get there early and give yourself lots of time to shop.

I have 2 favorite stores, one in Paterson, at 31 Van Houten Street and one in Passaic, at 417 Broadway. The Passaic store may have slightly more designer clothing, but both have a huge selection of every type of clothing. There's plenty of kids clothing, but a lot of it is very small, so if your child wears larger kids sizes you can look for smaller clothing in the adult section. Don't worry, the adult clothing is just as cool as the kids, the adult section is just larger sizes, not adult only clothing. My daughter has tons of cool hoodies, tops, skirts, coats, all from the Salvation Army women's section. She is always getting compliments on her clothing. And it's so much easier to match up outfits when all the clothing is grouped by color. My daughter loves shopping at the SA, we come out with huge bags of clothing. The prices are unreal, on a Wednesday, you can buy a skirt for $2, a t-shirt for a $1, a coat for $8, pants for $2, etc. I'm not kidding, you can really spend that little. You can leave with 3 huge bags of clothing, spending only $35-40 or less.

In any thrift store you must give a good look at the merchandise, check for holes, stains. Expect everything to smell musty, you'll need to wash it all before wearing. I never buy anything needing dry cleaning-only machine washable. I usually add some vinegar or baking soda to the wash and use fabric softener and dryer sheets. But if you want a leather or wool coat obviously you'll need to dry clean it, but then you would have it cleaned the same as all your other dry cleaning.

If you want used electronics, toys, furniture, all of the SA store have them. Passaic seems to always have lots of TVs and VCR/DVD players, and very decent furniture. The furniture prices are reduced every week if they are not sold, so you can get a whole set for amazingly cheap. The Paterson store has lots of furniture, but the good stuff goes fast. Kitchen items always are available, keep your eyes open and you can find a hardly used cappuccino maker, or an indoor grill.

There are other SA stores that may be worthwhile, but it's more hit and miss with them. One is in North Bergen at 7425 Bergenline Ave-not worth a trip-only if your in the area. Another is in Englewood, which is probably the smallest SA I've seen, but sometimes you can find something really nice. But if you want to do some serious shopping, go to the Passaic and Paterson stores, you won't come out empty handed.