Bissell Centre’s Thrift Shoppe

Fantastic little place.
The book section is not nearly as big as it used to be, it’s downright tiny really (honestly, now likely the smallest of any thrift shop in the city), but I did notice that they seem to receive good titles, in great condition, and they are very very well priced.
They do have many *new* goods as well as the standard used items you typically find in thrift shops, which is a result of many corporate donations. Something that I’ve noticed is more common in smaller true charity shops.
Despite the size of the store, there is an impressive small furniture section at the back. A much better selection than you would typically find at Value Village.
I feel that this is a good place to look for higher end labels, not priced as high as VV & Goodwill, and not as picked over as some other places, proportionally a great selection given the size of the shop. I spotted a couple of pairs of super cute Michael Kors wedges in brand new shape for $ 20 (black and tan, in 6.5 & 8, respectively — same style). I actually ended up buying a pair of Marc by Marc Jacobs sunnies for $ 18, that are current season and selling at The Bay for $ 155.
A bit of a hassle if you want to try anything on though, as there is a three item limit for the change rooms and you need to ask a clerk to unlock the door for you. Also, bigger ticket shoes are displayed in singles. I suppose both of these are a reflection of the higher crime rate in the neighbourhood.
Free parking abounds though, which goes far to bring me in. Anyway, you can’t really go wrong with a place like this: thrift shops have many social, environmental and economic benefits… the only thing they harm is my closet space.

My family is doing a Christmas in July get together, and we’re doing a gift exchange with a $ 5 limit. Of course I’ve been checking out garage sales and thrift stores for the gift exchange, so I popped into the Bissell Centre Thrift Shoppe on 118 to see what they had.
The store isn’t is an okay size, but its pretty crowded, particularly in the household and random hodge podge aisles on the west side of the store. You can’t have more than one person in the aisle, but on the upside I guess that means more stuff to peruse through. Apparently there can be good deals on books, but I didn’t really check that out. I was more flabbergasted at all the childhood items of mine that were there, like the weird Ikea space lamp I had as a kid, or the very 90s floral jewellery box I used to own. It was like entering the twilight zone — or stuff from the 90s and early 00s are now thrift shop worthy.
This is a thrift shoppe so prices are pretty cheap. It should go without warning that quality isn’t going to be 100%. These are donated items so you have to decide if the cost is worth it for you to fix/​upgrade/​repurpose whatever you buy, since there may be wear and tear (or more) to the items here. Of course you could also pick up something in great condition — all part of the joys on thrift shopping.
The Bissell Centre is a great local organization that helps low income Edmontonians. Everything in the Bissell Centre Thrift Shoppe is donated and the money here goes toward other Bissell Centre programs and initiatives. It’s pretty cool to save some money, while helping the larger community at the same time. If you’re in the area, and like a good bargain The Bissell Centre Thrift Shoppe is worth checking out.

Count me in as another person who loves to go to the Bissell Centre for their wicked selection of books. They have lots of newer releases in amazing condition, lots of Oprah picks, paperbacks, and tons of Canadian authors as well. The prices are unreal. The most I’ve paid for a book (or seen a book priced at) was $ 2.99 for a hardcover copy of The Corrections in perfect condition.
I haven’t had much luck with the clothes, but I got a nice H&M purse for $ 9. They have a decent selection of shoes and then all of the other random stuff that comes along with thrift store shopping.
I find their prices even cheaper than other big thrift stores (Value Village, etc.), and I feel good knowing that the profits actually go to the Bissell Centre and not just to some big corporation.

Ooh, I adore the Bissell Centre’s Thrift Shoppe. As Paula mentioned, they’ve got an excellent selection of books — in fact, it’s probably the best selection of books at any Edmonton thrift store, meticulously alphabetized and categorized. Someone’s obviously putting a lot of work into that book section and it makes browsing an absolute pleasure.
Books aside, Bissell’s got the usual clothing, linens, furniture and housewares on offer. Because it’s located in one of the lower-​income communities in town, the selection can be quite picked over, so visit often.

The Bissell Centre’s Thrift Shoppe helps this inner city agency raise funds. There is a huge selection of clothes and shoes. There is also an entire room of books. If you look, you can find some good titles in decent condition. The small selection of CDs can sometimes bring good deals and surprises. I picked up a Broken Social Scene CD and a double Best Of Elton John CD, for three dollars total. When I got home, I realized the second CD of the Elton John package was missing, but it was still a good deal. You can also find some toys and household items here. The stock changes all the time and they are always accepting donations.