Unique Thrift Store

Tip: If you like candles but can’t find the perfect shape but you like the color you can melt and mold the candle into whatever shape you want!

You will NOT get bored here. I came here about once a week with my girlfriends from high school after classes, and we’d spend atleast an hour or two scavenging through it. One of my favorite thrift shops, that’s always busy and holds an awesome gem for me each time I come.

This store and location has continued to deteriorate since Savers bought out Unique. Yes they have not changed the name of the store, but inside they have moved everything around and they do not have the quality of merchandise that Unique is known for. The prices are way too high on kitchen cookware. $ 24.99 for a glass cooking pot. I have bought this glass cookware for under $ 10. Hey Savers, have you heard the saying «If it works, don’t fix it»? Well they have changed everything. It worked well the way it was, now, it just doesn’t measure up to the old Unique that I, and many others, who loved to come to looking for rare items, computers and parts for them, linens, etc. Don’t waste your time on this store, it is not the same anymore.

Clean and well organized with the friendliest associates. From the cashiers to the drive up donation drop off, the Burnsville Unique has the nicest employees and is the cleanest facility. I am impressed@ the variety of goods here and the prices are becoming reasonable again. I’ve been a regular thrifter@ Burnsville since 2005 and through the revolving door of employees to the inflated pricing on their merchandise, I am happy to see things change for the good. Overall they finally have knowledgable sorters and are more now than ever fairly pricing their product accordingly. Keep a keen eye still.

I go to thrift stores quite a bit, and am always happy to find a great bargain. I mean, isn’t that what thrift stores are about? But you won’t find that at Unique. There are a FEW deals but they are few and far between. I went there in search of a pair of brown sandals… I found a cute pair of PREVIOUSLY WORN sandals… priced at (and I’m not even kidding) $ 24.99. WHAT?! I can go to Target and purchase a BRAND NEW pair of sandals for that price! What in the world makes these people think that previously worn sandals are worth $ 24.99? That’s when I literally decided I was done with this store. I stopped shopping and walked out. I have been there before and purchased a few items… and always thought they were overpriced. And I usually will head off to other thrift stores (Goodwill, Savers, etc) but I was in the area and thought I’d give it another shot. If I wanted to pay higher prices for previously used items, I’d go to Clothing Mentor — where everything is VERY clean, and in pristine condition. The sandals I looked at weren’t even in that great of condition! I’m still stunned. Save your money and hit up garage sales… you’ll find better items there.

I love to get in my thrifty fix and this awesome store! The staff rocks too. Maybe I thrift a little too much, but I LOVE Unique! Make sure you donate to this awesome place as they donate to great organizations like the Lupus foundation! Also, they have discount days and a card you can sign up for for free!

This was a huge thrift store. I went with one intention – getting furniture. Granted a thrift store’s merchandise is constantly changing I was rather disappointed with the crap that made it to the floor. I saw some pretty nasty stains on some of the merchandise. I’m sorry a child’s recliner shouldn’t be full of some mystery stain. Plus side – I did find a great lamp and some cute glasses.

Ever wondered what it would be like to have a shopping experience that combined prices that would make Neiman Marcus blush with a selection of items so potentially urine-​slathered that Bear Grylls could survive trapped in here for six months in the event of a nuclear holocaust?
Look no further, friends!
I’m a truffle pig, you see, and in my never ending quest to find shit to fix up I’ve found myself here on a couple different occasions. The right side of the store (most notably near the bathrooms) has always smelled like someone regularly mops the floor with a used diaper dipped into a concoction of spoiled milk, toddler piss, bleach and foot skin shavings.
Thankfully, it’s huge in here so the scent is somewhat easily evaded. It does, however hang like an ominous death cloud over the particle board desks and broken, overpriced Hoverounds (sorry, Grandma; looks like you won’t be spinning in circles at the Grand Canyon this year) so you’re SOL if that’s what you’re in the market for unless you have a gas mask.
The left side is filled with unwanted 70’s furniture, painted velvet art and moth ball scented clothing. On the off-​chance that you actually do uncover a diamond in the rough, you’ll more than likely have to take out a second mortgage to purchase it.
I’ve had several «Oh, that armoire’s not bad. It’s beaten up and would take a lot of work… but I do have some scrap wood and good paint at ho — HOLY FUCK, 350 DOLLARS?» moments here. You will, too.
I used to think of this place as a limbo, if you will, for items that should probably have gone straight to the landfill. But now I realize that it’s so much more than that. It’s a battlefield.
It’s a highly competitive arena where once faithful duck decoys, grease-​caked knick knacks, long forgotten crystal vases and questionably stained stuffed animals struggle for a chance at a cameo appearance on Hoarding: Buried Alive.
So make no mistake: It’s brutal on more than just your wallet.
The dead and fallen are carted out here unceremoniously in giant grey tubs, never to pursue their once glorious dreams of TV stardom.
Just think about that the next time you see a one-​eyed porcelain baby doll lying in a crumpled mess on the floor.
Or just don’t come here. That works, too.

Super busy for a place that is priced way higher than Savers, Goodwill or Salvation Army but offers the same quality items (ie donated).
Where silver plated items are only a couple dollars at the Goodwill, albeit in need of polishing, the equivalent silver-​plated items at Unique were tagged, scratch that, written on with eraseable art crayon (yep, that’s how cheap the store is) at $ 15. And yes, they also needed polishing.
I saw a salad spinner that was taped closed (though I don’t know if that meant it was brand new or just packed that way to keep the parts together) that was for sale for $ 9. As I could get a brand new one at Bed Bath Beyond for $ 15, I passed because I intended to use the spinner for a different purpose than cooking.
Also clientele is a strange mix of hobby thrift shoppers, those who humbly shop at thrift stores because that’s all they can afford, and lastly, people who look like they’d snatch things from your cart and fight you over a $ 5 item because they saw it first while it was sitting in your hands.

Can’t say I’ve seen a larger thrift store and they keep a tight ship.
Pros: huge selection of clothing. Always multiple cashiers for quick check out. Organization is top notch. More items constantly being added. Plenty of assistance.
Cons: everything is online checked for pricing so it’s near impossible to find any treasures and if you do it’s priced accordingly in the collectibles section. Only 2 dressing rooms available; I have waited 15 minutes before. Household goods and electronics is limited. Scarce to find any furniture or garage items.
Not fault of Unique but someone backed their car in to mine in the parking lot causing 4 digit damage and didn’t leave a note.

I’m a huge thrifter I love the thrill of digging through all of the junk to find gold that will cost ¼ of the cost you would normally pay for at the stores at regular price.
My friends like to joke around and say I’m like the Macklemoore song thrift shop.
Unique is exactly every other thrift store but in a larger bigger three times the size way and much more pricier then the normal ma and pa shops or even shopping at your local salvation army or goodwill. I would say Unique is comparable to Savers in Prices and organized the same way sizes, types of clothing and categories.
I never seem to find anything I actually love to death at a great deal I do like browsing in hopes of a deal but that day hasn’t come yet. No special days either unless you sign up for their membership its free but then is it worth the spam mail?

Saw on Tuesday with my own eyes: $ 50 Dolce and Gabbana leather pumps with leather flower detail. Perfect condition. Kid you not.

Better selection then their New Hope store, but help is scarce and not worth finding. Once I tracked someone down to ask my question they were less then helpful and rude in the process.

I never understood why some thrift stores have the gonads to sell the stuff they get for free at ridiculously high prices. Unique is the best example of this practice. Although they do carry high end items, I don’t think is is fair to sell a pair of used Coach boots for $ 69.95 and an outdated wedding dress that I would see people wear as a Halloween costume for $ 99.95. Also, they offer no refunds or exchanges. Most thrift stores I shop at give you at least 7days to exchange.
But, nonetheless they still get three stars because they are not a total bust. If you play your cards right you can get a good deal. I was looking for a pair of suspenders at the time and found some for $ 2, which is better than paying $ 15 brand new. They also earn points because they are well organized and do a good job on not selling garbage.

This is the place where ceramic midwestern ducks, hair crimpers, company logo freebies, potential regifts, useless gifts, team trophys, miles of picture frames (some with the family pic still in it) and many once loved or not so loved items go to wait until someone else takes them home.
I never used to go to thrift stores until I went with J. He likes looking for old school boards and toys and products he can take apart for work. I go along for the amusement and nostalgia factor. Sometimes I actually find myself enjoying it.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of useless crap out there. I saw 2 soft serve personal ice cream machines. Sorry if anyone has one and enjoys theirs. Who has the space to store these monsters? Hit the DQ instead. That’s just me. I’m far too lazy to make my own soft serve.
The prices are hit and miss. The stuff I expect to be expensive is cheap and the stuff I expect to be inexpensive is really outrageous. I wonder what their pricing guidelines are and if there are any.
A lot of thrift stores seem to be striving for a more box feel with the box prices. Sorry, but if that’s the case, I’ll just hit the box store for the receipt and return option.
If something doesn’t work here– too bad. As is, no returns. Well that sucks. I’d be bummed if the 90’s Debbie Gibson looking tape player didn’t work.

Nice store, can be very over priced on somethings. No returns which means you better try it on and completely inspect all items. If it doesn’t have a price or you accidently tear a tag or smudge a price… forget it. No you cannot have it. Good stuff to know … on Tuesday’s EVERYTHING is 25% off, major holidays everything is 50% off.

After lunch at Bucca we headed over here to walk off the pasta. The place was busy busy busy. We started to look through the aisles and quickly realized the prices were a bit steep and were inconsistent.
I found some kids blocks made out of foam that I had been wanting to block my knitting on — The first pack I found was $ 6.00. I decided they were too beat up to pay that much for and kept walking. The next aisle over they were $ 4.95 and then I found another in the $ 4.00 range further down the same aisle.
My husband found a used leather vest that fit him — but it was priced $ 30.00. He paid $ 50.00 for his brand new — so he decided to put it back.
I liked the organization and the aisles were large enough that even though it was busy we hit few clogs in traffic flow. In the end we didn’t find anything we wanted that was priced right so we left.
Worth a walk through if you are a Thrifter — but I would not make a special trip out here for this place.

This thrift store is large and YES, you could completely start to fill a new place from scratch because they have everything… infact they will even sell you the sample laundry soap packets you get for free in the newspaper (60 cents), a bag of shopping pages (85 cents) and so on… which I found irritating. So you need to be on the look out for true junk to find the true treasure.
Because I live in California and was just visiting, my serious looking at items was limited primarily to clothing and jewelry. My sour experience with employees surrounds the jewelry cases. I found a vintage pin in 1 case, the cashier opened the case and handed me the pin. In the second case I saw the matching earrings. I asked for them, he handed them to me and I headed for the cash register. STOP, you can’t take them… why? I see, they have to be held. Well, can I just check out here then? No. You can take a number? And he demanded to know how I got the pin out of the first case and walking off with it. Sigh. So a supervisor was given the earrings ($ 4.99) to walk over to the first case to buy the pin in my hand ($ 9.99). They seemed smug like they had thwarted some theft ring. Kind of soured the visit.
This store is large and does have a ton. IThe sorting and staging area is practically as large as the store itself. was impressed to see an employee dusting and cleaning the knick-​knack shelves. There is a thrift store odor to the place, likely because of all the clothing, accounting for half the store.

If you like going to thrift stores… this is the mother of all thrift stores around here! They have quite the selection of… everything! The store is pretty well-​lit as well as clean. For the most part it is easy to find things because it is well organized. They are usually well stocked with cashiers and their parking lot is always overflowing with cars and from time to time they will have some pretty good sales.
I love sifting through their book selection. If you don’t want to spend money at the bookstore for new books, they have some good books to choose from. They have what a section of what they think are antiques so they are priced a bit more which my brother-​in-​law loves to be in that section. They have a huge supply of used toys… it’s crazy!
Overall, each time I go I come out with something in hand. If you know what you’re looking for, you’ll walk out happy. I will agree that their prices are sometimes off… just doesn’t reflect what a thrift store price should be but if you come in the right time the sales are worth it. Happy hunting!

I was driving randomly through Burnsville this weekend (don’t ask) when I came across Unique. I loooooove thrift stores and the Unique in Golden Valley is one of my favorites ever, so I was SO EXCITED about my find.
The parking lot is huge but, like every Unique, was totally packed because it was a Saturday. I was really happy that the aisles are wider than the other stores (I hate having to push my way past carts and statue-​like customers) but the layout was kind of dumb. Everything is really crammed at the entrance (the registers are right there) so it was really congested at the checkouts.
But here is my main gripe — everything was SO expensive. A pair of jeans was $ 19.95! Those same jeans would have been $ 7-​$ 10 at Savers or any other Unique. Occasionally I’d pick up something that was fairly priced, but then I’d look at a pair of well-​worn shoes that were $ 9.95 and I’d start to dislike the place even more. Everything was really high quality, though, which is nice because I’m sick of weeding through $ 8 sweaters with big ol’ holes in them at Savers.
I’d say that I’d go back but, honestly, Burnsville sucks and I avoid it unless absolutely necessary. Don’t agree with me? Try making your way down County Road 42 towards 35W on the weekend sometime and then get back to me.