Salvation Army Thrift Store

I’ve never shopped here, but have donated many things here over the years. Last time I tried donating, I came with a box of books. When I tried giving them to them, they told me that they no longer accept books. Now I no longer donate there. Beggars can’t be choosers.

This was the first south-​side Salvation Army location I visited after hitting almost all north-​side locations. Honestly, I would stick with the north-​side locations unless I’m seeking for some impossible treasures.
Hubby and I have concluded the journey on finding a turntable for vinyl records. Hence, we’ve started a brand-​new project; we now want speakers for our turntable.
Apparently, that’s a much easier project because I seem to find lots of speakers. Yet I’m no expert in technology; I’m just a messenger who documents, sends pictures, and delivers any information that is pertinent to his quest.
Well, let’s not digress. Unto my review to this specific location, I’m not too much of a fan. This place makes an normal individual like myself claustrophobic, if that makes any sense. The garment racks are way too over-​stocked; the promo signage isn’t prominent enough for customers see what color tag is having an extra sale; the grounds need some major work and deep cleaning.
That’s enough ranting. I really shouldn’t be that critical to a thrift store like Salvation Army. But from a customer’s perspective, I really wasn’t comfortable and had a difficult time shopping with ease.
At least today is a gorgeous day and we are experiencing 40 °F for the first time in six (6) months. Being a Chicagoan, you know that’s a huge blessing from our beloved Mother Nature. Thus, that made my journey to Oak Park/​Forest Park more pleasurable.

I am only reviewing on the donation part of this store. I don’t shop here, but come here to donate clothes. This is the second time we came here to donate. once was couple years ago around winter time, and this time was this past weekend in the summer. Our first experience coming here was not good. The person who we met to donate our clothes just took us to the truck in the back and threw our clothes inside and gave us a reciept then we left. He didn’t say anything to us and I got the impression that they don’t really care about what they do. poor customer service. Maybe it was too cold outside for him so he just did what he needed to do and made us go away.
The second time we came was this past Saturday. It was a sunny warm weekend. the truck was out with couple people mandating it. We dropped off our clothes and they gave us a reciept. The people who were there were nice and wished us a great day. I felt the second time around was much better than first. I was a bit hesitant in wanting to donate clothes to this area, but I gave this place a second try.
My advice… donate on a sunny warm day. You get better customer service.

Management is very rude. Will completely ignore you unless you look Spanish speaking, and when you finally get them to stop pretending like they didn’t see you, they will clearly express that they don’t want to deal with you. Place is dirty and unorganized, they’ll sell anything regardless if it’s gross or not. They’ll even hang USED underwear in an attempt to sell. This is the worst resale shop EVER. Needs a full rehab and new management to be worth going to.

This place is pretty much a waste of your time. On occasion I have found a decent coat or purse here, but that’s about it. It smells awful and moldy, which normally I’d be able to overlook if I was finding good items, but you just don’t. Too bad the location that used to be out in Villa Park isn’t there anymore. It moved to Downers Grove.

My favorite Thrift store from the city! Its a great place to find recent items and at a reasonable price. Been coming to this place for years and i love it! I am young and find this place to be like my Forever 21.
The only reason i don’t give this place 5 stars is because most of the time the cashiers are unfriendly and don’t want to sell you the items.

Ii was thoroughly disappointed with this salvation army! The selection was small, overpriced, and just overall bad. Don’t waste your time…

Way out there on the West Side… nothing remarkable here to really go out of your way for. Also on the smaller side, as Salvation Army stores go. You’ll live without this one. On the upside, the staff were very nice and friendly, probably the best thing about this place.

It smells better now! I guess they ripped up old carpeting or something, because the odor isn’t nearly as bad as it once was. It doesn’t smell good or anything, but the smell before was horrendous.
I decided to check the place out because I thought they had totally remodeled. They haven’t. They added a new bright red checkout, and moved things around in the store a little bit. They color coded the clothing, like in Unique, but everything else in this little store looks just as picked over as always.
I’ve given the store 2 stars now instead of 3 because their book selection has been drastically reduced and it also appears that they have less glassware. I don’t know about the clothes or appliances or anything, as I generally only go here for books, and the occasional champagne glasses.

I live just a few blocks from this SA and frequent it quite a bit.
After a few years of coming here I got to know the staff and found them all to be very nice. A lot of comments state otherwise but can you even imagine what these people deal with on a daily basis?!
Anyway, the reason for my post is that I recently had a baby and the manager Michelle, Barbara and Teddy sent me a fruit basket from edible arrangements! I coudln’t believe it. So these ladies and this store get my 2 thumbs up! I have found some amazing deals here. To date, the best being a 1970’s Missoni dress in perfect condition!

Typical Salvo’s. Not very big. No maternity section.

The store looks like a bombed out shelter, and smells of midew but the reason you go to this place is not to soak in the atmosphere, but to find deals and obscure items.
Been coming to this place on and off for several years (buying and dropping off) and I always seem to find something. I love collecting t-​shirts and have found some awesome vintage concert and beer T’s. It’s like going through your grandparents basement or garage and looking through boxes that haven’t been touched in years. They also have lots of sales which make coming here even better…

This place is gross. It smells bad, it’s dirty, and packed to the disorganized brim with stuff you don’t want.
I’m pretty sure the help is forced to work there against their will as part of a work release program. And like all Salvation Army’s, they won’t sell an item (if you miraculously find something you want) if it’s missing a price tag. Even if you offer to pay the highest price of any similar item.
Most clothing items are less then $ 10, so if you have a lot of time to go through this dirty mess, you may find a good deal. Make sure you wash it first. I’m pretty sure I got a rash from something I purchased here in high school.
The furniture selection is awful and overpriced.
Seriously, try the location on north Harlem or just go to the big Salvation Army on Grand, or better yet just go to the Goodwill on Harlem.

In regards to this Salvation Army, don’t waste your time! I have been to most of the salvation army stores all over the city and suburbs, and this one is BY FAR THE WORST.
The store is absolutely filthy, messy, and filled with a lot of useless crap. I could barely stand the smell alone (think mildew mixed with moth balls), not to mention the unfriendly, absent staff. In fact, the two women working there were not even stationed at the register, they were sitting at a table in back eating! (add nasty, greasy food smells to the mildew+moth balls).
The racks are a mess, most of the items I pulled were stained or damaged anyway (and priced at $ 12! come on). You couldn’t even give away the mostly damaged furniture they were trying to sell in back. And when I tried to ask about an item in the display case, I couldn’t even get the saleswoman to help me. Apparently she was too busy with her italian beef.
Bottom line: Don’t waste your time at this dump. If you’re looking for thrift store treasures, try the brown elephant on harrison, or the goodwill on harlem.

In terms of charity thrift stores, not my favorite charity to support, but…
Oh, the things you will find here. This is not nearly as picked over as the Chicago ones and yes it’s filthy, but if you are a hardcore thrifter, this is your Barbie Dream House of vintage bargains (covered in dust and sometimes pizza. Have it cleaned. It’s worth it).
The people who price this stuff are completely style-​, label-​, era-​, and perhaps even color– blind. If you have two hours to kill and an endless bucket of patience and antibacterial soap, you will be rewarded handsomely.

This is a pretty good sized location. it’s never usually super crowded which is nice and you can usually find some good things here.