Value Village

Yikes. PLEASE READ.
Remember how there were no large bags for a while?
After the lawsuit and before those red signs stating on a piece of printer paper they are a non profit, we trashed those bags because they said «DONATE» on them.
NO percent of profits go to non-​profit
just pretty much pennies per pound on each cart of stuff– things come in trailers and also community donation.
A literally terrible place to work, especially in the back-​production.
Things are thrown away because nobody wants to «deal» with them. I can’t speak for the cloth team, which are lovely ladies so fun and nice, but housewares–
Oh God. I’d been told since June that I can be transferred to operations (cashier) once «miscl» (housewares) is fully staffed, they were short staffed in June when I was hired and even shorter staffed when I left in November. I’m writing this review knowing that there will be no retaliation, and I could give a s*** about the reference because I quit day of.
There is (was) literally a literal corner that the person who makes bags was to stand in. First it was Robert, the shorter guy who does books now and then it was me after I rolled out housewares on carts.
YOU STAND IN A LITERAL CORNER and frantically make bags of items all day. I was written up twice, once for socializing outside of my work station (a 3×1 corner) and so I was fearful to leave the da** corner and then I was WRITTEN UP for socializing again– in the corner! As well as my bag average per day was 246– not 350. That’s impossible if you want to provide quality housewares bags– not used mousetraps
So they got a woman and she made a little under 300 bags too.
Not long after, that f**** corner is used as storage for overflowing bins of small, bag items and the housewares team consists of Ed– he’s been there 24 years– and literally the supervisor Kristine who fill in and the store and production managers, Chris and Travis.
So, which is worse, 246 bags or pretty much no bags?
Then I switched back to rolling and got plantar fasciitis and didn’t get switched to operations until I hobbled into Chris office and said I can’t even limp without crying
Ugg shoes used to be sold at vv Redmond for 25 — slippers, boots. Now they’re all 50
*******
Labor hours are established as 7 – 330, but it’s often about 5pm. Extreme short staff. People drop like flies
Internal and external theft is prevalent.
a man was literally frantically stuffing clothing in luggage right there in front of the guard
And the man left right out the exit door with backpacks stuffed. Every day people come to the register with swapped tags, and we were trained to just call a supervisor immediately.
I was given a verbal about not catching it once, and so for one day I was hypervigilant about it and my supervisor told me to «chill on the price checks»
Last time I checked new north face boots don’t go for half off $ 8 but ok.
the production room, tues-​sat when stuff gets processed 7 – 330. people are so stressed out there. poke your head in.
This place is disgusting on all levels– physically, socially, economically, morally. I have witnessed dogs urinate, children vomit, much broken glass
The dressing rooms are foul– cigarette butts, mystery slime, diapers, upwards of thirty hangers and clothing items on the floor. Old food. Battery acid. TAGS.
Once on October there was a trader Joe’s shopping cart that was there for two days.
This is a terrible, grimy place.
One day kerosene spilled on the wood bottom of a donation cart– My throat was raw and scorched for over two weeks. Everyone is timed at unrealistic standards set by corporate-​even if they were realistic the fact of being timed and watched on the security camera to see if you’re keeping your head down is terrifying.
I was once yelled at by management for helping an elderly woman. Because I was supposed to be doing go backs.
I would help her again.
Also don’t work here– intense discrimination on RACE OR/​and LANGUAGE, AGE and religion
They hired the first «official» jewellery person– an older lady– there was nobody for MONTHS, and Chris subsequently fired her «for not putting out enough jewellery» and again nobody for MONTHS
That case was jam packed, regardless, if you’re going to fire someone for not putting enough jewellery out, maybe hire another? Instead of having your production supervisor pricing $ 500 bracelets (see photo)
She didn’t even get a written– canned as soon as she came in in the morning.
I’m 100% sure it was age discrimination, because they didn’t even fire the 16 year old for putting out even less, and pricing the gold at $ 1.
Tl;dr
Don’t shop here, don’t donate to them or their affiliates, don’t work here.
I’m not gong to sue, but I DID stop donating! They barely pay anything for only cloth donations even after the lawsuit, and according to the general manager of Northwest center (big blue truck) according to store manager Chris Smith, according to truck drivers, NOBODY KNOWS.
Ya right! So shady

Great selection of shoes and boots but DAYAM they are pricey. 24.99 for a pair of used boots? Yeah, I bought them but seriously I thought this was a thrift shop.
Fairly clean and they opened another register after two long lines formed.

This is one of the best VV stores in the Seattle area. A very well run store. Staff are always friendly and helpful!

This used to be my favorite thrift store ever, but no longer. Their greed has become all to obvious. Management is more concerned with staying in the back catching every Coach bag that is donated and pricing it at or above outlet prices, instead of making sure the store is well run and adequately staffed. Recent firings of admired staff has employee… and customer moral way down. Long lines due to cut-​backs in staff, and hiring of incompetent newbys. Manager no where to be found when a return is needed or more staff is required. Prices are through the roof; they actually price things above the original stores markdown price. I guess CEO Alterman needs a new yacht for his Medina waterfront home.

This is the one that got me hooked. This is the store that I grew up going to. I love love love Value Village, and it’s all because of the Redmond location. Parking isn’t the best, but if you go during the week, it’s not too bad. I always seem to find something amazing, and the prices are great!

So I wanted to do something different and my buddy wanted to do some thrifting! So naturally the idea of finding nifty cool things was appealing to me so off we went! Can’t really comment on the clothes because I wasn’t there for any of that. The space at first seemed small but quickly I realized that even though inventory seemed a little light the store was very well organized. The furniture/​other section was in the back well hidden and the first thing my friend and I notice was a fish tank with the full set up for 8 $!! It blew me away cause everything was in new condition and there was easily over 100 $ worth of things in there. So naturally I swooped it up and took it home and I now get to start my life as an aquarium enthusiast.

Visited again yesterday; found a great brand vest for only $ 7. Also discovered #ValueVillage gives #Seniors 10%off, every day… a great gift, if you’re one of the aged! And the staff were actually helpful… hence, the added Star ;)

I’M GONNA POP SOME TAGS, ONLY GOT TWENTY DOLLAHS IN MY POCKET.
Well I spent $ 40 actually, but that’s besides the point. The moment I walked into this store, I fell in love. No seriously, I know my thrift stores, and I love this place.
Super important things to me that makes this 5÷5−− It is clean (these clothes look washed, there isn’t a musky smell), the clothes are taken care of (no damage, if any it is extremely minor, tags of origins still on, most clothes don’t feel overused), and there is A LOT OF CLOTHING in ALL sizes.
Some of the older reviews complain how it is more expensive— price range is from 1.99 to 9.99 (for clothing at least), I’ve seen a 12.99 and I think a 19.99 but that was for a pair of doc martens. But everything is generally under $ 10. I found a beautiful CK dress for 9.99. I got two heels for 9.99 too. This isn’t a snooty consignment store where things break in a few days– clothing here is genuinely well taken care of and there is some fashionable name brands in here. (Found Ann Taylor, CK, Zara, etc etc) So yes I’ll be coming back for more.
You also get a card for points– for every 5 dollars you spend you get a point. Get 15 it those and it’s 30% off your next purchase.

Please do not shop or donate to any of the Value Village Stores. If you are thrift store shopping or donating, Goodwill’s prices are MUCH lower and they do more to help those less fortunate in our local community. The last time I went to Value Village I was shopping for wine glasses. The cheapest I could find were $ 2.99 each, and of course, they did not match. I went to Target and bought a matching set of 4 for 9.99, less than the donated mismatched wine glasses that Value Village was selling. Goodwill sells them for 69 cents a piece. A woman that was shopping at Value Village the same day I was shopping for glasses stopped me to point out a ridiculous price on a heart shaped wood décor item. There was a round sticker (Obviously from a garage sale), that had $ 3.00 on it and on the other side of the plaque, was Value Village’s price of $ 4.99! It didn’t sell for $ 3.00 at a garage sale, and yet Value Village upped the price by 2.00? You can buy new clothes for less at Ross and new for housewares for less at Fred Meyer and Target. I am a savvy shopper, so will not be taken advantage of by Value Village. I feel badly for people that might not know better, and think they are getting a good deal because they are buying used. Shame on you Value Village for pricing items that have been DONATED to you for such a large profit margin.

I’ve been to this location twice in the past two months. I like the selection of clothes and jewelry here vs the Value Village in Tukwila. However, today’s experience left a bad taste in my mouth. It was early, probably a half hour/​hour after opening and there was only one clerk checking folks out — and there was a long line. There was another clerk at the end but the sign said «closed» even though he was helping other people — employees, I guess, which didn’t seem fair. Wasn’t until I took this pic that one of them came over to open another checkout.

I really like what they have done in terms of the layout and overall cleanliness within the past year or two. If you’ve visited a couple years ago, you wouldn’t recognize it now.
Instead of the clothing section being right by the register like in the past, they’ve moved it to the left side of the store which enables those checking out to have a little more room and thus not feel as crowded.
They used to have only one entrance that was situated behind the registers right next to the exit. Now it is seperate, away from the hustle and bustle and makes for a better flow.
It was also refreshing to see an employee stationed at the entrance with a small table to welcome and inform you about the day’s sale. A small touch that makes for a better experience and ultimately, a more fruitful excursion.
It was a Monday when we visited and there were quite a few employees hustling about the busy store putting stock on the shelves. I found it slightly bothersome that they didn’t have the best manners when it came to getting in people’s way and not moving if I wanted to look at something.

re: 2014 Donation Drop Off
I haven’t been to this location for awhile, since I do not live near. I was quite surprised on how they expanded the occupied space area as they now have the donation in the convenient way versus in the back. This location does get a lot of traffic, so it’s pretty common to have different items each time I visit as they have high turnover on their inventory. I typically come here looking for hidden gems to resale, but I haven’t found any to my expertise yet. That is probably attributed to the fact that people are beating me to the punch. Again, decent location, don’t pay full when you can find it for cheap!

Aren’t thrift stores supposed to be affordable? This one is the most overpriced on the east side. A pair of jeans for $ 12? Really? Just walk into Gap, go to the clearance section and you get the same pair new for less. Ridiculous. I see prices going up every week. T-​shirts are $ 5.99? Goodwill in Seattle is Way cheaper and has a much larger selection.

Great location in downtown Redmond. I find the selection lacking a bit when compared to the store in Totem Lake, Kirkland.

~i love shopping at value village! This was the first time i came here in this location. I love the clothes, jewelry, shoes, and bags here! Everything i bought was under $ 10. Can’t beat that! I always look at the designer labels and style. Customer service was great! Thank you!

This is the only VV I’ve ever visited so take my review with a grain of salt. I was a bit surprised how expensive clothing items were. I guess I’m used to the second hand stores where things are $ 3 and then w/​half price days it’s $ 1.50. Here, clothing seemed routinely $ 9 and up. The store is large and clean and has a big selection. The staff seem very nice, esp this sweet Filipino lady who smiles like she really enjoys working there. I did buy a few clothing items for about $ 6 b/​c I thought it was a good deal but some things seemed a little overpriced. FYI if you donate items you get a coupon for $ 3 off of $ 10.

So happy they remodeled. It’s so much more organized and love the new drop off area. I’ve been a customer for about 25 years. Love it supports the blind and all my donations come here! I recommend this location to everyone.
Hint — They have great costume ideas for Halloween

Newly remodeled and it has SO much more space. Lot’s of inventory and great deals. Also, pretty clean. The only thing that comes with having so much is that everyone wants to shop there, so the lines are long. Fortunately they’ve added more staff to accommodate the growth but the line can still take a while.
I love this place and always find treasures there.

I love how well organized Value Village tends to be. At least here, Renton and Ballard. But the prices are crazy for a thrift store. I was finding WalMart brand clothes for $ 7 – 8, which is pretty much what they retail for. Beat up kids toys for $ 5… Sorry, no thanks.
I think I will stick to non-​chain thrifting.

This Value Village location is great for books but for the last 10 years or so their prices are still on the high side. I rarely look for clothes, shoes, and purses here because they are priced on the high side for used items. Do they think we are rich? LOL
I shop at thrift stores because I am frugal and I like to save money. If I wanted to pay new prices I would just go to Ross or TJ Maxx. Or even Target.
Last time I was in there the toilet in the womens’ restroom was clogged and inoperable and management did not resolve this issue promptly. What if a child needed to use the restroom? Unfortunately there was little thought or concern for this.
Overall this store has a good selection but high prices for used items. If you are into paying more for items than their value for items such as womens’ clothing, purses, and shoes then you will enjoy this location. For this reason I do not go out of my way to shop at this Value Village. Their prices for USED items are just too high. Their used books are the highlight here which says a lot :)