The Thrift Store

Loved this thrift store. It is huge! It was clean and well organized and the prices were great. The is definitely on the regular rotation for places to visit.

This is not the thrift store you are looking for.
The prices are not good at all. Some things new are less at Walmart.
I recommend not going here. Go to Goodwill instead.

We have saved a ton of money on clothes through the years so we can travel instead. If you look for quality and shop smart you can get good deals. I personally don’t enjoy spending $ 100 on one item of clothing which is easy to do at Banana Republic. But with a combination of luck, frugality, and perseverance we regularly find Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, American Eagle, Calvin Klein, Vans and Aeropostale plus some wicked cool Vintage items. Imagination and good shoes go a long way.

Well, they were good when they were in St. Nicolas area. The store was spacious and could handle the crowds. The new store can’t do this. CASH only. They do have an ATM machine.

I used to really love them when they were on beach blvd, and I still sorta do because you can find some very nice things very cheap. BUT, they have some issues that have cut down my visits considerably. First of all, you MUST check any glass or porcelain very carefully before you buy it as they love to put the price tags over chips, scratches and nicks. This has happened far too much to be coincidental. And as we all know, glass or china that has imperfections lose 95% of their value.
Secondly, more than once Ive gotten things home and they reek of pet smells or nicotine ! Especially furniture and art. So make sure you smell it really well. Lastly, and this is the most annoying thing by far to me, they have a certain group of customers that stand by the doors where they come out of with the carts that immediately start snatching anything good. It is utterly ridiculous to watch them descend like vultures ! There should be a rule that you cant snatch stuff off a cart like that. All that being said, its still a great place to find a treasure, the management/​pricers aren’t nearly as smart as they think they are and some fine things can still be had. Like a solid silver chinese box for $ 3 ! You have to be patient and pick through tons of dreck. Also, the aisles are crammed and if its busy it can be a real hassle to move around.

This place is huge, (I know I’m not the only one that has said this) Great deals, found a crystal carafe for $ 14.95 brand new for $ 100. They have sales for different color tags every day.
Only negative its CASH only
Staff is very nice

To sum up: This is my favorite thrift store in Jacksonville.
+ Humongous selection
+ Good deals on tag sales
+ Seriously takes effort NOT to find anything you want
+ Bigger, cleaner location on Emerson than it was on Atlantic
— No dressing rooms (see *** for explanation and workaround below)
— Cash only, but there is an ATM
— Probably about half the stuff is decently priced. The rest is overpriced and definitely requires a half-​price tag sale to make it reasonable.
— Not organized by size
To explain: I’ve been a big fan of The Thrift Store for almost the whole decade since I moved to Jax. I’m pretty sure it has the most clothing items of any thrift store in Jax. This is where I go if I need a clothing fix without breaking the bank, a specific item, or have visitors who want to do some thrifting. (The latter happens frequently as probably 90% of my wardrobe is thrifted from our stores and my friends are envious. ;) We usually hit this one first with the intention of going elsewhere, but nine times out of ten my friends will have filled up their suitcases with their finds here so we never go to any others.)
There is so. much. stuff here. My brother and husband, who always complain about how there’s never anything their sizes at thrift stores, have both found things here. (Or rather I’ve found them for them; they lack the patience to thrift.) Of the 90% of my wardrobe that’s thrifted, probably at least 50% of that is from The Thrift Store. I find premium jeans, designer dresses, cashmere sweaters, and tons of mall brands pretty much every time I go. (They’re not always in my size, but that’s thrifting for ya.) I literally have never gone there and not purchased *something*. Usually a clothing item, but often a game, toy, mug, or book, as they have plenty of each.
Their prices are really random. Many items are $ 5 or less. Most are $ 10 or less. Some are higher, which is pretty annoying when you realize this is a thrift store. And I also noticed that their prices got higher when they moved from Atlantic to Emerson. With the half-​price tag sales the higher-​priced stuff could be worth it to you, or not. It depends on your rule for thrifting. My usual rule is that if you personally would have paid double for it brand new at the original store, or if you added $ 10 to the price you’d still buy it, it’s worth considering. And for Pete’s sake, don’t put back a shirt for $ 7 that you really like simply because that tag isn’t half price. $ 7 for a shirt you really like is a good deal even if it’s not «on sale».
*** The lack of dressing rooms can be a real turnoff to people. When the store moved to Emerson I mentioned to one of the cashiers that I had hoped they’d have dressing rooms once they moved. She said that they have tons of shoplifting already and dressing rooms would only make that easier. Once again, the selfish few have made things worse for the law-​abiding many. My visitors have all been warned about the lack of dressing rooms, and usually find it very amusing to do the workaround, which is as follows:
— Take your cart of goodies to one of the three mirrors in the store. There’s one at the end of the tall dress rack in the middle aisle that cuts through the center of the store width-​wise, one over by the ATM, and one over by the shoes/​purses against the far right wall when you walk in.
— To try on tops: women, wear a camisole or sports bra under your shirt, and try things on over it. This will enable you to try on just about any top or dress without having to give anyone a show. Men, obviously you can take your shirt off, or simply revel in the fact that men’s sizing is quite consistent across all brands. #bitter
— To try on bottoms: women, you can either wear opaque leggings, yoga pants, bike shorts, or a skirt. If the first three, you can remove any bottoms over them and feel pretty well covered. If the latter you can try things on directly under your skirt. If I don’t feel like wearing a skirt I usually just grab a nice stretchy one off the rack and use that as a «changing skirt». Put it on over your pants, then unsnap/​unzip your pants underneath and pull ‘em down. Men, you could totally do the changing skirt thing too, but I never have seen any men do it. Again, I presume it’s because men’s sizing is consistent; if I buy my husband any pants in his size they always fit. :p
Anyway, as weird as this may sound, I can assure you TONS of people do it, from stylish teenagers to little old ladies, and everyone in between. The only people who’ll look at you weird are those who’ve never been there before.
All in all I’d give this 4.5 stars. It probably seems like I should knock off more than half a star for being cash only, often overpriced, not having dressing rooms, and not organizing by size, but I’ve found so much great stuff over the years I just adore it!

I am a older (Male) customer that has shopped there for years. I went in today 8÷06÷2014 caring a black hand bag (like the one you use at WinnDixie to carry home your food) it had in it all the things I use to carry on my the day. ie check book, eyeglasses, wallet, sunglasses, change, Qupons ect, ect, ect. I was told I needed to give it to the clerk behind the conner as I could not carry it in to the store. I was polite and never reaised my voice at any time and asked I see other with bags why do I have to give up mine? I was only told to do it and if I did not I would be taken out of the store. I then said I see many many (almost all) the ladys in the store hand their hand bags as they where shopping and told they did not have to store them. I feel that Me being a Male or some other reason I have yet to be told why? could not have a hand bag as I shopped. I show the Manager my bagg and then showed the things I had inside and said It was my hand bag SHE then said You carry a hand Bag do You?? IF THERE ARE RULES they should be inforced unpon everyone not just Men or anyone one or any reason else but EVERY ONE Trent Barry… also I have fould that many times the things could be got a a very much lower price at FULL RETAIL THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN WHAT HAS MADE THEM GROW AND THEY DO NOT GIVE A DARN!!! Trent Barry

This place is huge but they have gotten ridiculously overpriced. $ 9.95 for a plain glass vase? $ 14.95 for a donated used ladies blazer? $ 29.95 for a set of metal vases? Those are retail prices in many stores today. They seem to price on a label name regardless of condition. While there were some clothing items that I found that were a good deal there were many clothing and household goods items I left exactly where they were because I knew I could buy a brand new one for close to the same price. And they only take cash. I personally won’t be going as often much less donating.