The Goodwill Store

Shockingly good selection and great service. It’s a bit more hard core in terms of the rules than the Davis Square location, but I had a much superior experience overall.

I haven’t written my last review of this Goodwill since back in 2013. Throwback right? Since then I’ve made some pretty rad findings at this location such as some nice records and a 1987 GE digital clock radio in fully functioning condition! Hurray! Plus I even found an avocado green GE hand clock radio from 1970! Rarely are radios over 40 years old found in Goodwill. (Don’t ask me about the clothes lol)
But I’m even happier to say that the renovations that unfortunately left the store closed for a while, were totally worth the waiting. Instead of the filthy homily carpet that the store previously lined its floors with there’s now a pleasant wood floor to walk on. The electronic section’s still a little hard to navigate but I’ve found some real treasure on its cluttered shelves that I mentioned earlier which makes it worth the effort. For the service it has always been friendly. The lines however have been a nightmare a couple times. Let’s not forget the Great Goodwill Line Stall of February 2^nd, 2014. My god it sends shivers down my spine recalling that eternity’s wait. But accidents happen so it’s nothing to hold a useless grudge over. Instead it honestly adds to the handful of memorable experiences I have to tell of my uncountable journeys to the thrift shop on Central since ’13. I’ll never forget Goodwill at Central and for that I thank it. (:

Clean, organized, lots of name brands. Not just the usual faded Target stuff. I don’t get why people are saying it’s smelly — it’s no more so than any other Goodwill, and significantly less so than some. I waited in line for 20 minutes to use one of the two dressing rooms, which wasn’t fun, but the people who work there came by frequently and knocked on the doors to give the folks inside a five-​minute warning.
A couple who were obviously very, very high on meth were standing in line in front of me picking at each other’s skin. Just in case you ever needed a reason to wash the clothes you buy in thrift stores before you wear them…

I definitely still enjoy getting a great deal here, but there are a few negatives I have come across lately. I usually try to shop here on weekdays, but recently I noticed that even on a crowded weekend they had only one person ringing up at the register. The other one was just chatting and this made for a very, very long line. Also, they’ve since taken one dressing room (out of 2) out of commission for storage. Ugh.
Everything else is the same, you still have to sort through lots of Yuck to find a Yay but if you have the time it’s usually worth it. The housewares section is still very good, best deals in the store and lots of turnover.

Since I am not a fan of buying things from some factory where there are children working in a third world country, I feel better about going to thrift stores such as this.
Things are total bargains in here & the things you can find, unbelievable. I have snagged some great things here but it is hit or miss sometimes. Things could probably be cleaner in here & more organized but you can work w/​it.
I have found some cute purses here & my greatest thing was a pair of Land’s End snow shoes that were brand new for like $ 15, can’t beat that. Just go & check out what you might be missing.

Ah, Goodwill Cambridge. My go-​to spot for cheap fall/​winter knitwear. Being so near to MIT and Harvard, you’re bound to get donations from a pretty well-​to-​do donor base.
I really can’t speak on the women’s selection at this place, although it looks big. The men’s section definitely has the occasional buried treasure items such as nearly pristine sweaters from J. Crew, Banana Republic, LL Bean, Lands End (you’re in Cambridge so expect a lot of preppy labels here).
I’d say the shoe section is near nonexistent, the shirts just meh, and pants not worth considering.
Come drop by fellas, if you’re looking for some knitwear to help brave the freezing Cambridge weather!

Have shopped here for years, and the «quality» of fellow customers has declined, even as the physical store has improved. No one expects to encounter people with impeccable manners at a Goodwill store, but the number of outright rude people who shop here is appalling. They’ll yank something out of your hand that you’re looking at, or block an aisle with a shopping cart to keep other from looking at what they’re looking at. They’ll grab all of a certain color shirt off the rack and go through them one by one, tossing what they don’t want onto the floor. They’ll put intended purchases in a pile on the floor instead of into a shopping basket or cart, walk 25 feet away from the pile, then scream at the unsuspecting customer or staff person who picks them up, yelling, «THAT“S MINE!!!». They’ll cut in front of you in line, plop 50 items onto the counter at the cash register, then hold each one up in turn and haggle over the price or ask «How much?», slowly deciding whether to buy it or not, thereby holding others up in the line forever. A lot of shop lifting happens here too.
Nice staff, nice store, but many pushy, grabby, loud, arrogant, entitled, annoying, self centered moron customers who treat merchandise and other people with disdain. I now avoid this store because of them, going in less and less. Am sick of getting yelled at, glared at, and elbowed by these dolts, and suspect that many of them left their native lands for America to the sound of fellow countrymen cheering at their departure. Not all Goodwill stores are like this thankfully. I once asked staff members why they didn’t enforce some semblance of appropriate store behavior rules, and can see now that it would be futile to do so. Boomerangs across the street is much better in terms of good natured fellow customers, but expect to see some of these annoying Goodwill customers there too. They go in, not to buy, but to «rest», entire extended families sitting on «for sale» sofas and chairs, where they’ll check cell phone messages, organize their purses, or blankly stare at the ceiling for an hour or so.

Funky smell, but pretty cool staff. The big Af-​Am guy is a sweetie. He went out of his way to find stuff for me, and chatted with me. I’ve found equestrian helmets, yoga pants, cosplay materials, nice shirts here. Found good men’s workout stuff too.
Their CD selection is the best if you dig rock and 90s ALT.

One of my favorite goodwill locations! I go on a regular basis. Great selection of women and men’s clothes if you have time! They also are a great place to find fun décor things for the home!
My latest find was a pair of brown leather boots that I researched to find that they retail for 150 bucks. They were barely worn and in great condition!

Although it is a relatively small Goodwill, I found a French Connection dress, a Marc Jacob’s sweater, a Clever Crayon dress and a Miss Sixty jeans. I am very pleased with my purchase :-) This Goodwill totally made my day!

I have had some good finds here, and I hate to knock a charity, but this Goodwill is probably the worst in Boston.
They have made some efforts to clean the place up a bit, but generally its pretty dirty and smelly. Now there is nothing wrong with dirty and smelly, as long as the prices match. Today I went in picked out a pair of shoes, and VHS cassette… $ 27.00… I passed. Looked at some other shoes, they had an older pair with holes in the soles, and worn heals for $ 30. The Roxbury, and Southie, and Davis Goodwill’s have lots of shoes priced between $ 7-​$ 10 (even nice brands) … without holes in the soles. I’m not sure what the deal is whit the Central Store.
The electronics, etc. are haphazardly piled onto shelving, but also generally overpriced. Boomerangs across the street is cleaner, better merchandised and the prices are sooo much better, I scored a pair of vintage-​y mens dress shoes in excellent condition for $ 6–
The bottom line is disorganized, smelly and cheap is great. Disorganized smelly and expensive is laughably silly.

Large, good prices, good housewares.
Hard to find clothes.

This store is basically worthless for finding good clothes (if you care about style). I would give it zero points for clothes.
BUUUUT, this place is my first stop when I need to stock up on bowls/​plates/​silverware/​serving platters. I have gotten a full set of beautiful stemless wine glasses, large crystal punch bowls, nice white plates, and all of my silverware here for an incredible deal! If you are having a large get together **like Thanksgiving dinner** and suddenly realize you need more large serving platters, Goodwill is the way to go.

I’m early and my friend is running late for lunch so I pop in here to see how things are doing. It’s a busy week with students returning, so it’s a chaotic scene. I am down by the plates and coffee mugs when a large man on his way to the books inhales deeply and spits out a massive amount of brown tinted phlegm all over the floor and anything in his path. He wipes his chin with the back of his hand, gives me the hairy eye ball and keeps on going towards the books. I know customers can spit whenever they want to in any store in any city, but it kind of ruined my attempt at feeling better about shopping at this particular place.

I like a good mall shopping trip every now and then, but I must admit that perusing the Central Square Goodwill on a Sunday morning after brunch is one of my not-​so-​secret guilty pleasures. There’s something relaxing about sifting through castaways looking for that diamond in the rough… and something thrilling about finally finding it!
I will credit Harvard students with providing the steady stream of J. Crew and Banana Republic clothing that overwhelms this Goodwill’s racks. But in addition to a great assortment of clothes, this store’s housewares section is amazing. I’ve scored goodies from Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma and several brand-​name cookware suppliers that have saved me big bucks.
I’ve never been to the Goodwill in Davis Square so I can’t provide a comparison. However, based on what others have said I will have to check it out soon!

I think I’d give this place a 3.5 really because it’s not that big, but I’ve gotten some AWESOME stuff here. Yesterday I got a ginormous glass platter for $ 3!!! It will make my turkey look the size of a pea. Oh, and I got a dish strainer, a fancy wire one that folds out into that X-​design for $ 2. And some crate and barrel plates for $ 1.10. Wow, what a steal. In the past, I’ve gotten a pie plate, a huge glass bowl that had it’s own wrought-​iron like stand, and a silver platter, and some wine glasses. You certainly have to look through things and figure out what’s not broken/​scratched, but it will yield some good finds.

I’m a regular customer at the Goodwill store in Somerville’s Davis Square, and thought I’d pop by its sister store in Central Square…
Nowhere near as good as the Somerville store. The one in Cambridge is smaller, and not the same variety of bricabrac, and i didn’t get the same ‘neighborhood vibe’. Frankly, it’s nowhere near as good as the Davis Square branch.
The money goes to a good cause, so I recommend locals shop here, but as far as Goodwill shops go, it was not very impressive. Shop at the Davis Square branch instead.

Bargain-​hunting is in my blood. But so is being environmentally-​conscious so I donate my old clothes that are in good condition to thrift stores that benefit those less fortunate. I’ve taken the opportunity to clean out my closets a few times while I’ve lived here (dang Boston closets are tiiiiny!) and this store has been the beneficiary of my cleanings. I would love to eventually pare down my closet to a well-​edited selection of clothes I love and would wear over and over for years so I guess the small closets are a good thing.
Of course, I have to look around while I’m here. There’s a small selection of old records at the front, interesting window displays to lure people in (me things the banana peel on the next-​to-​bottom shelf doesn’t help), and as you go deeper back, a huge selection of clothes. Looked like flat prices e.g. all shirts are $x, all jeans are $x, etc. But there are also housewares and accessories.
You have to be ready to dig and bring your hand sanitizer. Mostly mid-​level/​mall designers. The only thing that caught my eye was an apple green Hermes Birkin at the front of the store that was obviously in fair condition (smudges all over the leather, broken magnetic clasp) because why else would it be at Goodwill?

FUNKY
Function: adjective
Inflected Form (s): funkier; funkiest
Etymology: funk offensive odor
Date: 1784
1: having an offensive odor: foul
2: having an earthy unsophisticated style and feeling; especially: having the style and feeling of older black American music (as blues or gospel) or of funk
3 a: odd or quaint in appearance or feeling
b: lacking style or taste
c: unconventionally stylish: hip
I think it’s pretty funky that I can get rid of my funky old clothes here in this funky shop with a strange funk in the air. I can then spend $ 5 and get a funky 80s outfit for a funky night out and by the time I’ve paid I left I’ve usually funk to myself «aren’t I a good boy, giving stuff to a charity like that?»

Promise not to tell the hipster girls that hog all the sweet vintage everything, but in the back by the household goods there are four racks of amazing purses.
I bought 8, no joke. One gorgeous maroon leather Etienne Aiger, a Champagne quilted, chained Chanel knock-​off, an awesome square grey 80s vinyl bag, a black 60s clutch, the list goes on. And it cost me $ 28. Are you listening?! I’d say go, STAT. But I just cleared OUT. Wait a few weeks and go ravage!