Wisconsin Thrift stores....

[tjzlof]

There is a really nice St. Vincent DePaul Store in Slinger on Hwy 175.  Their prices are better than Good Will and they have some really nice clothes.

[milwjamie]

tjzlof--
Sounds like a good spot. Do they have a lot of records or glassware there?
--Jamie

[funkstart]

Here are some of my favorite thrift stores in Madison:

House of Thrift
474 North Sherman Avenue, Madison, WI 53704
(608) 246-0889

House of Thrift rocks.  The elderly people who work there are so nice, and the prices are cheap as cheap.  It's small, so it's one of those places you can go back to repeatedly and find something.

Saint Vincent de Paul
1309 Williamson Street, Madison, WI 53703
(608) 257-0673

Everybody in Madison talks about going here, but sometimes things are good and sometimes they aren't.  They don't get in shipments of clothes and such all the time, so you could come back a week later and find the exact same things on the shelves.  Oh yeah, and the people who work there are really, really cool (one of my best friends in the entire world works there, so sometimes I just hang out and talk with him) but that can actually hinder the pricing process... you know, like these guys really do know how valuable a Vanilla Ice boardgame is, so they price it at, like, $20 (whereas at some church flea market the thing would be 50 cents, you know?).

Saint Vincent de Paul
1900 South Park Street, Madison, WI 53713
(608) 250-6370

Now this place is the ultimate deal.  To all those who know it well, it's called the Dig and Save because, well, you literally have to dig through piles of crap to find stuff.  It's like an archeological expedition!  Just make sure to wash your hands afterward... yuck.   Some of the best finds to be had here, y'all.

Oh, and there are, I think, 2 more St. Vinnie's in the Madison area, but I've never been to those... let me know if they're any good, those of you who have had the pleasue.

Savers
1880 East Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53704
(608) 240-0768

I really like Savers.  It's huge, and they have a very, very high turnover, so there's always something new.  And you can always find great things.  Check this out:  I went there last week, and I found, on a stuffed animal rack, a Gloomy bear in practically new condition with its tags still on from Cubeworks (a Japanese toy company) for $2... and if anybody here knows anything about these toys, they're, like, $20 and you'd have to usually ship them from Japan or some specialty store/site in the states... I never have luck like this!

Okay, as for Goodwill, they do really have high turnover and you can always find something cool, but the problem is prices, as you all well know I'm sure.  I didn't list them here (there are like 6 in the Madison area) because I'm pretty angry at the rising prices myself, but anybody who wants those addresses, let me know, and I can provide them.

Oh, and I'm sure you're all hip to this info, but in Madison especially, VINTAGE store vs. THRIFT store means a difference between a $30 sweater vs. a $3 sweater.  I know this is probably about the same in other cities, but I've found the markup especially bad in the Madison area.  Oh yeah, and there's this vintage store off of State St. that actually rents used clothing.  tell me that's not ridiculous!  I'm not going to rent an '85 Walter Payton jersey to wear for two days!  I want to actually buy that jersey to actually have... sheesh.

[tjzlof]

Jamie, The one in Slinger had a lot of records and glassware there when I was there about a month ago.

[milwjamie]

Oh, and I'm sure you're all hip to this info, but in Madison especially, VINTAGE store vs. THRIFT store means a difference between a $30 sweater vs. a $3 sweater.  I know this is probably about the same in other cities, but I've found the markup especially bad in the Madison area.  Oh yeah, and there's this vintage store off of State St. that actually rents used clothing.  tell me that's not ridiculous!  I'm not going to rent an '85 Walter Payton jersey to wear for two days!  I want to actually buy that jersey to actually have... sheesh.

hahaha that is so funny and weird that they rent used clothing!!! Totally know what you mean about the vintage stores.. It's sorta like that here too with Marlene's and places like that. It is quite sad too. Where exactly is that rental vintage store?!! Is that the one with the broken up CDs on the outside? Where you have to go up a flight of steps? It'd be worth the trip alone to see their rentals...
--Jamie

[funkstart]

Hey, since Slinger was mentioned, I grew up in Hartford (only ten minutes away on hwy 60) and there's a St. Vinnie's right downtown (across from the mondo-huge Mineshaft restaurant/bar, Main Street being connected, I think, to hwy 83).  It's pretty big... two floors, and tons of stuff.  The people who work there are a little weird (townies... *shudder*) but that's the way the local thrift stores are, right?  I don't go there often... I only go back to Hartford to visit the folks, and then I try to bust out of there as quickly as possible (you know how revisiting the old homestead is, y'all).

Oh, and as for the vintage store rental thingy, seriously, don't bother checking 'em out.  The place, I think, is just called Vintage something, and it's on Gorham right off State St.  The rentals there are really nothing special.  It's just stuff like old futball/basketball jerseys of good players (you know, Walter Payton Bears jerseys, I think I saw a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar jersey there too, which is totally sweet but for rent?!) or authentic tour shirts from bands like Pink Floyd or Black Sabbath... you know, all really cool stuff to find for, like, $5-10 at a regular thrift store, but completely nonsensical for renting.  I understand the Halloween rentals (they do a lot of that), and some of that stuff is pretty cool if you want to rent a costume (I like making my own, personally... hey, we're all pretty crafty here, right?) but otherwise, this place is lame.

I think I know which vintage store you meant... I think it's really near the one I'm talking about, called, like, Godiya or something, but it's really small and kind of lame...  Has the same sort of stuff as Ragstock, which used to be cool, like, six years ago or more, but now it's totally lame (no offense to anyone who likes it, I just think it's not as cool as it used to be... downstairs they used to have boxes of clothes that you could dig through, and, if I remember correctly, you could buy by the pound... literally, "Ragstock").

[binny]

The second vintage store right around the corner from State St in Madison is Gozira (or however you spell it).  The name is supposedly making fun of the way Asian people would say "Godzilla".  It's a tiny store and fun to look around but you can find better and cheaper stuff at a garage sale.

[milwjamie]

Yeah CottonCandy and funkstart--
You are totally right about things being overpriced in the so called vintage stores. What has happened to Ragstock lately though too?? They seem to have raised their prices a ton. The vintage rental thing is just so absurd to me, it is strange that they really do that and think people would rent them!!  I guess Halloween makes sense, but it is still a little odd... Why would you rent something when you could find good stuff for cheaper at the thrift?!! It just doesn't make sense. heheh well if I ever see a reasonably priced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar jersey, I will totally pick it up for you funkstart. Do you remember that other store that used to be on State St. where they only sold clothes by the pound? Can't recall the name though..
And that Gozira place or whatever it is called, all their stuff is horribly overpriced too!! They had a decent pair of shoes there if I recall correctly, but they wanted like, $30 for them...I think that is the same place I am talking about, it was very tiny and upstairs.
--Jamie

[flyingfish]

now that summer has started it's all about the rummage sales for the deals- a tip that i find helpful (obviously i take this really seriously... ) is too get a laminated map and go online, get a list of sales in your area and take a rub-off pen and mark where all the sales are. this way you can hit as many as possible without wasting time!

[milwjamie]

now that summer has started it's all about the rummage sales for the deals- a tip that i find helpful (obviously i take this really seriously... ) is too get a laminated map and go online, get a list of sales in your area and take a rub-off pen and mark where all the sales are. this way you can hit as many as possible without wasting time!

That is such a great idea!!!! May have to share this tip with my ebay obsessed dad.. After all it is father's day.     That would be good for visits to other cities too, to map out where to go when! Yay! flyingfish your tip is great, I love it!!
--Jamie