Arc Thrift Store

Not sure why all the hate. Okay I’m not a professional picker, so maybe that’s it. This is my least favorite of the local ARC stores only because I can never find anything I want there. Fluke of what is donated I suppose. It’s about as clean as the others, never had a problem with employees.

Easily the worst of all the Arc stores in Colorado.
My wife and I love these stores, so when we come to visit family in Colorado, we always make sure to visit as many as we can. On our last trip, we visited fourteen different Arc stores around Denver and Colorado Springs. I am almost positive that we really have been to every single Arc in the state, so it is not an exaggeration when I say, WORST. ARC. EVER.
Also, I have seen the running of a large thrift store in SF, know many many people who manage and work there, and understand that these can be a challenge to run. Still no excuse.
Why such a bad review?
Strike 1: Employees talking loudly about how much they hate their job, and how they can’t wait to get out of there. Seriously. They were having a conversation across the store about how they couldn’t wait for closing (which was still a couple hours away). How do you find employees this unprofessional?
Strike 2: After finding some books, we walk up to the check stands. Nobody home. We look around and see multiple employees standing around the store. No help.
Note: I am 6’1″ tall, a little over 200lbs, wearing a brightly colored shirt. I am not hard to see, standing at the front of the store.
The girl who was complaining loudly earlier starts walking towards us. ‘Yay,’ I think,‘Someone is finally going to assist us!’. When she gets close, I make eye contact with her. She then (I kid you not) puts her head down and speeds up as she walks past us.
Minutes pass.
Finally, after roughly ten minutes of me debating whether it would be a bad thing just to take the books (considering nobody is interested in selling them to me), an older lady comes in, completely high on God knows what, and says something about ‘putting away the shopping carts’. Is that what they call it these days?
Strike 3: As we check out, I realize I left one of the books I wanted on the shelf. I run to get it, and my wife waits at the counter while the lady scans the books. As I am walking back (there is nobody in line behind us), the high counter lady looks over and yells ‘Hurry up!’. I then run back and give her the book.
Seriously. You’re out.
I left this place feeling like I had just wandered into and out of the twilight zone. I have never received such poor customer service in my life. There was no management present, no direction, no friendliness, nothing. There are plenty of other Arcs in Colorado Springs. I’d recommend you visit literally ANY of them but this one.

Not the worst I’ve ever seen but there are loads of better thrift stores in the Springs. The Arc on Austin Bluffs tends to have a better selection of clothes, books and knick knacks. The problem is that all the aforementioned items are pricier here. Perhaps its location is the issue. Being the north end of town, maybe they feel people will spend more on the same items they could find cheaper further south. Or it could be that since there is a decent Goodwill only a couple of blocks north they feel they must compete. Either way it’s too bad as the location is prime and they should surely be more competitive in both selection and price.

Careful on your returns. If any tag is off… If you don’t have the receipt, if you don’t come back in ten days… If you have two out of three just to exchange bed sheets for a different size… They will send you packing. I was spending $ 200.00 per month here and they couldn’t exchange sheets for a size that I needed. I had all the tags and my receipt and was still sent packing. I will not ever come here again. This is for profit. Not for people.

This thrift store reminds me of Walmart. Only difference is, at Walmart things are new and less expensive. Across the board, EVERYTHING here is priced higher then even the other ARC Thrift Store across town.
In the entryway today, I walked in and spotted an old small dresser/​wardrobe… listed at $ 250. You wouldn’t even see it priced that high at an antique store.
The purpose of a thrift store is to make things affordable for the less fortunate. These are donated items… some of them my donated items… that you’re turning around just to make a profit.