Christ Church Thrift Shop

Usually places that have the words Christ and Church in their headlines scare me away, but this tiny thrift shop has drawn me in more than once. I leave with no new awakenings or religious enlightenment but with a sincere appreciation for the old fashioned thrift shop.
This is the type of tiny thrift shop many of us grew up with. It’s hidden down a small side street and run by an energetic battalion of church ladies who seem to know everyone else in the building except for you. It’s a chatty environment. There are two or three small rooms that spread out on either side of the entry way, offering plenty of elbow room. The place is heavy on clothes. Rather traditional clothes. Talbots, LL Bean, Saks. Old and rather tweedy. There’s a tiny section of books and a few kitchen items scattered around.
I like the familiarity of this little spot but can’t say I have found anything that needs to come along home with me. None the less, when I am walking by and see the sign indicating they are open, I stop in again and again. Maybe some day I will even stay for a while and chat with the ladies.

This is a tiny thrift store that’s really hard to find — it’s behind Gutman library and the best way to find it is from Brattle Street — look for the signs. I peruse through here for 20 mins or so to look at home goods. Today I made a KILLING — found two pairs of earrings (one for myself and another for a friend) that look to be hand-​crafted ($ 3-​$ 4) each. I also got a plate ($ 1) that I think will match the other three I have at home and a beer glass ($ 0.50) to replace the one I broke earlier.
The staff are retired women who probably volunteer their time and a lot of the goods are set up really nicely, as if you would use them at your own home. I was eyeing a gravy-​boat crock pot for $ 6 but wonder if I really really need something like that. I have also been eyeing these gigantic martini glasses ($ 4) that would make really decorative, funky pieces (and über practical as candy or nut containers), but since I’m moving in a year, no go. Damn. I would be all over those otherwise. Truthfully, I don’t tend to find a whole lot of stuff here because it is so small, but the place is well organized and inviting and sometimes there is something that will tickle your fancy.
Check the hours — right now they’re open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, which was different from last year. One of the staff members told me that the best day to come is Tuesday because they have done all the sorting.

I work nearby and will often pop in just for a look around. A womwn I work with told me she LOVED the place so I went the first time on her recommendation. She was right. I have found lots of fun stuff, a little on the waspy side but still fun clothing wise. This is also where I now donate my discards. I say check it out!

Yesterday, by sheer serendipity (I was watching the traffic on Brattle Street from an upper window in Crate & Barrel), I discovered that Christ Church operates a thrift store. Never one to turn down the chance to happen upon a signed Updike first edition for a buck, I wandered over.
The store is tiny and like Gaul, if Gaul contained a narrow hallway connecting its constituent elements, is divided into three parts: Clothing, odds and ends, toys and kitchen stuff. Among scores of obscure classical music LPs that made me wish I still owned a turntable, and heavy 1970s crockery, I found a small book selection, consisting mostly of collected sermons and obsolete self-​help twaddle («I’m OK, You’re OK,» anyone?). Nestled, however, between a lone third volume of a Samuel Eliot Morrison history and a lesser-​known Vance Packard expose, I found a period copy of «Rosemary’s Baby,» replete with a photo of Mia Farrow on the cover. I purchased it for fifty cents and appreciated the irony of finding, at an Episcopal church charity shop, a novel about a young woman getting ravished by Satan and bearing his spawn.
All told, I ended up spending a thoroughly engaging half-​hour digging through the discards of well-​heeled Cantabrigians. As Julius Caesar Schwarzenegger might have said, «I came, I saw, I’ll be back.»

Despite the fact that many of their items, are truly dead; broken, marred, holey, completely out of style whilst lycra, too flammable to ever graduate to vintage, and are offered for sale at 2 – 3 three times what you’d pay at a garage sale if one didn’t bargain, the thrill of the hunt keeps me coming back. Why? Because occasionally they have a stray; something wonderful that’s in pristine condition and selling for a dollar or two.

This little shop is great and operates for a worthy cause. I have found some great items there. (Best: Ann Taylor jeans that are very flattering and seemed to be brand new for $ 6!) Of course, donations are accepted.
It can be tricky to find and to find parking but call or ask around. You can reach this street by Brattle St or by parking near the Commons and walking to the left of the church down the walkway to the little dead-​end street that the shop is on.
Hours for 2008 are/​were Tues, Weds, Thurs, Saturday 10am-​4pm but call 617−492−3335 to check in case they have changed the hours more recently.