Salvation Army

This is the closest donation site to my place, and yet this was the first time I went to this location. It is kind of tucked away off of Grand on Union and you have to go inside to drop off items through a door to your left once you are inside. There is no person that was there to collect my items or give me a receipt either. I had to wait in line where purchases were being made with the cashier filling out the form. This location has 3 levels of items where the main floor where you enter has furniture, upstairs has clothing, and downstairs has the extra stuff. The prices are somewhat reasonable, but the staff off Clybourn is much friendlier.

Wow, 2 weeks in a row I waited from 8am till 4pm to donate a sofa and no one showed up. Both times I had confirmation calls. After the first day of a no show I was supposed to be the first on the list the following week but instead I received a call at 3:18pm they just weren’t coming. Please don’t waste your time donating to The Salvation Army in Chicago because they couldn’t careless about it.

This Salvation Army location is the worst for picking up donations. The pick up crew is not the least bit interested in lifting a thing. They find every excuse known to man as to why they can’t take a piece of furniture. From too inconvenient to park (we have a loading dock and freight elevator) to the furniture isn’t up to their standards. I manage a large upscale residential property and often referred
residents to Salvation Army to make donations. EVERY single time Salvation Army shows up they have some ridiculous excuse as to why they can’t take a perfectly good piece of furniture when the furniture has no holes, rips, snags, stains, etc. It’s nothing more than laziness. We have since started referring those interested in making furniture donations to The Brown Elephant, they are prompt, professional and genuinely seem happy to make the pick up. Save yourself the hassle of being rejected by a thrift store and donate elsewhere!

I’ve been actively visiting thrift stores in the city of Chicago and Chicagoland. This one is located east from the CTA Grand Blue line station. Once you get out of the subway station, figure out which one is Grand Ave. and walk east for two (2) minutes, you will see it.
If you’re moving and in need of furniture, I think it may have something in store for you. The first floor primarily features sofas, mirrors, tables, desks, and other miscellaneous living-​room and dining-​room essentials. The prices I saw are more than reasonable. You can get a college dormitory style futon for under $ 50. I should have known better where to get my futon when I was in college, but I didn’t know the world that well at that time. What a dismay!
The second floor contains all clothing, accessories, and footwear items. I don’t recommend to shop for clothing in a Salvation Army thrift store, for they tend to mark their prices higher on apparel than what a Village Discount Outlet would. Nevertheless, if you’re desperate for shoes, often times shoes found in a Salvation Army are cleaner and in a more pristine condition. That’s just an observation, but what you can find really depends on each individual Salvation Army Thrift Store. The quality of neighborhood where the store is located also matters.
The basement resembles an old man’s workshop. You can find utility items, bikes, random gadgets, and someone’s DePaul University Juris Doctor diploma… back in the 60’s. With that being said, the air isn’t going to be ventilating well. The candles they are selling are probably the only substances to make the air smell a little bit endurable.
Sounds like an awesome, adventurous store, so why three (3) stars? Hubby was confused with how much a vinyl record costs. I told him that he might have to ask a manager for pricing or to make a deal or something. At the same time, I didn’t think he found anything that he wanted to purchase. Does anyone who has purchased vinyl records in a Salvation Army thrift store know what much each piece cost? Let me know.

Ok, I agree with the other reviews now. The prices are nuts. I can’t even fathom how much they charge for some of these clothes. Jeans with a big hole right in the butt $ 8. Half empty bottle of Suave shampoo $ 4. I don’t even get it. Avoid if you can.

Salvation Army will never get another donation from us– there are so many charities that care and want donations– if you give to Salvation Army your donations will be treated worse than a garbage dump– don’t believe me? Take a drive to Waukeagan and watch your stuff get «donated» — ha– dumped on a heap of other donations — probably never to get to people who truly need it–

REVIEW ON 10÷6÷2014. I never used to be much of a thrift store shopper. Bloomies is more my speed. But earlier this year, I hit the Goodwill in Moline, IL with my sister and walked out with a used $ 2,500 (retail) Fendi Spy Bag for $ 20. Beginner’s luck. Obviously, no one behind the counter knew the brand Fendi. Of course, that would probably never happen in Chicago, but I keep hoping I’ll get lucky again.
Stopped in at this Salvation Army a few blocks from my place, and all I can say is… crazy. Crazy prices, that is. I can do better at Macy’s with a good sale plus a coupon from the Trib. The first floor is mainly furniture and a few accessories. I looked at two mid-​century chairs for $ 225 each, and both needed costly refinishing and reupholstering. They wouldn’t budge on the price. Nothing attracted me on the top floor or in the basement except for a $ 24 teak salad bowl, too much for used. Lots of mix-​matched kitchen stuff, used electronics, plus a few uninteresting antiques were of little interest. This store is more picked over than a farmer’s market just before closing. I saw a few people buying things, but I left with nothing.
Thrift shopping is hit or miss. You never know what you’ll find. Although I can’t say anything positive about my experience here, several college-​aged friends picking through the clothes were obviously very happy with their finds. Someone had donated a lot of Banana Republic stuff with the tags still on them.
My search will continue, because once you’re bitten by the thrift store bug, it’s hard to stop. I’m posting a picture of my Fendi bag from the Moline Goodwill to inspire my fellow thrift store shopper.
UPDATED REVIEW ON 8÷20÷2015: Stopped in a week ago for the first time since my original review last year. It’s much improved. Better organized, cleaner, and the prices were a little more reasonable. The salesperson told me they have a new manager. I picked up a mid-​century ceramic vase for $ 20… about $ 15 less than I saw it on Etsy. They still need to do better on the pricing, but I’m giving them an extra star for the improvements.

The prices are ridic. They actually had Suave Shampoo marked for $ 4. Umm. Osco, Jewel, Target, everywhere sells it for 99 cents.
They think they are Hermes. They aren’t. Everything they have is near retail and you can’t return it. Go to look, you may find a bargain but just because it is here, doesn’t mean its cheap.

Spent two hours in the Sally Army on Saturday — unlike Goodwill and other thrift outlets, the clothes are sorted by color, not sizes, so you have to root around a little to find what fits. I snagged a spanking-​new, never-​worn Banana Republic blazer for less than $ 8 and a couple of really nice dress shirts for $ 3.50. Downstairs, there were dozens of sets of golf clubs, and «bric a brac» galore — glassware, artwork, toys, dishes, Tupperware, travel mugs… you name it. The whole place is a bit musty and moldy, so if you have allergies, you might wanna pop a couple Sudafed before heading in. The wife had a bit of a sneezing fit after 90 minutes, and my eyes were burning by the time we left. The furniture prices see a smattering high, but there were some nice deals on futons and end tables. Go play. Have fun!

I was surprised to see all the bad reviews. I’ve been going to this shop for over a decade and continue to find great things at amazing prices.
First the bad.
–They do have alot of surplus from Target marked at too-​expensive prices
–They do price their Coats, furniture, vintage and collectible times more like an antique store than a resale shop.
–The staff, some of which have been there for many years is not well trained in customer service and you do have to check your bags at the front, something they don’t always request in the kindest of tones.
The good:
If you’re willing to dig, and aren’t turned off by finding some items priced too high, you can find great prices on lots of items including clothes as well as housewares and toys (Second story and Basement respectively) I routinely find top brand clothes in good shape for 3 – 6 dollars an item. Just today I was wearing a GAP Cardigan from SA that cost me 3 bucks. Sometimes you’ll go and not find anything, but this store has been the source of some of my best and cheapest finds. This shouldn’t be your only thrift store (there are lots of other great stores in and around Chicago) but it’s on my list and I stop by whenever I can.

Not sure I agree with the consensus on this one. This place rules!
It’s massive with tons of everything from clothes to furniture to props to other random stuff and you get it all for super cheap. They keep it pretty organized considering how big it is and how few employees they have. It’s the perfect place to go for themed parties, Halloween, or just to kill some time before getting a table at La Scarola across the street.
Sure…It’s a thrift store so of course it’s going to smell like moth balls and you’ll have to do some digging for the good stuff but that’s part of the fun of it anyways.

The person who said «this place takes all the fun out of thrifting» is right. This place is terrible. They sell mostly junk, and anything that has a decent brand label usually has a major flaw (check for tears in the crotch and around the pockets in jeans). It’s absolutely worth your while to travel to a different store. Spending any time here will disappoint you, and if your experience doesn’t bring you down, the nasty salespeople will. Don’t waste your time.

As an avid thrifter i don’t like to give away my secrets but I am so pissed that I have to complain! I went on a sat and it was empty– that alone should have been my first clue! No thrift store is empty on a saturday! Three floors of stuff, the first is furniture ok quality but high priced. $ 150-​$ 300 for a couch. The staff let me walk around for 20 mins then four different employees demanded I hand over my bag. Earlier posters mentioned racism but im a white gal and there Hispanic ladies that came in at the same time. we were all accosted. The staff were also rude as hell, instead of saying excuse me to get through isles staff stared you down and said: «Really?» but thats fine, thrift stores aren’t known to be the most selective of employers. It’s the prices that got me! Used generic shoes for $ 17 – 45! I’m not kidding, I took a picture to prove this bullshit. Anything of value is marked way the fuck up and everything else is cheap. Even banana republic stuff would be cheaper on eBay. Don’t waste your time — even as close as this is to the blue line it’s not worth it. You might find vintage clothing reasonably priced but most anything else marked the f– up!

Minorities not wanted. My wife and I (both Asian) stumbled upon this place when walking on a date night. Entering into the cavernous cement-​walled shop we passed by dust and mildew laden furniture that was basting under low-​lit halogen bulbs. This Salvation Army is more of a collection of thrown out garbage than a place of well-​cared for collectibles.
Still as my wife and I were there, wondering if we could find any worthwhile surprises, we turned the first corner of the main room. That was when we heard the raspy voice. «Take off your bag and purse. You’re going to have to give me your bag,» the larynx-​challenged voice said. My wife and I looked to see where the sound was coming from, and then looked at the small brown leather Calvin Klein bag that my wife was wearing. We walked a couple steps forward and heard the raspy entonement: «Take off your bag and purse and give them to me.»
As we had passed by some of the shoulder high clutter that was piled up in the center of the room, we saw the old employee who had gasped out the words, standing in front of the cash register table. My wife and I looked around to see whom the woman was talking to. From this vantage point a quick visual sweep of the room showed one other shopping husband and wife couple, a mother and daughter, and a single woman. The four female shoppers who’d preceded us into the store all wore larger bags on their backs or hips than the bag that my wife carried. My wife and I approached the clerk to clarify, and the clerk repeated the demand with a stare. Let me take a pause from this narrative to say that I’m not one to say the sky is falling, so this Salvation Army clerk’s behavior was really annoying. By simply turning our necks left and right, my wife and I saw four women who had entered before us, sashaying down the aisles with bigger bags swaying in rhythm. I asked the clerk about the other patrons and if she was going to talk to them about their bigger bags. Her immediate response was (and I kid you not): «Yes, I’m White. I’m going to talk to them, too. I just haven’t had a chance to get to them yet.» Allow me to point out that I’d asked her about the other customers’ larger bags and what the clerk planned to do, yet the employee’s first response was that she’s White. Then there’s the fact that the other customers had been walking around for minutes before us. Stupid is as stupid does.
In embarrassment by the blatant racism, the single female shopper who was standing by the register ready to check out, swung her purse from back to front to show how much bigger her purse was than my wife’s bag. My wife began taking out our wallets and phones, while the clerk repeated her self admission. Given the store’s treatment, «offerings», and the spoiling of an until then perfect date night, I asked my wife to repack her bag as I didn’t want to stay in the shop any longer. Its incredible that in this day and age, in a large metropolitan city such Chicago, racism still exists.
Thank goodness for Unilocal,which enabled me to not only find and confirm other Unilocalers’ reviews about the racism at this Salvation Army, but also to reiterate that the shop and its items are dreadful.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t go there. Save your time, your money, your feet and everything that can constitute an opportunity cost. I read some of the reviews here (which were pretty bad) but as a queen of thrift shopping, I decided to go anyway.
Needless to say, that I was mad at myself for not listening. I was just digusted with this place. As soon as I opened the door, the lady yelled at me to give her my bag (I’m black but I’m not a thief-​sorry) .
Nothing special there, the place is just ugly, with items that range from $ 10 to $ 100 000 000 000. Yeah, that’s how expensive it is. And also, I was looking at the bags and this other person came at me and said «are you ready to pay?» I was really shocked and then when she looked at my face, she tried to apologize. I’ve seen this one beautiful jacket that I ended up buying but other than that, nothing really to be excited about.
So please, again save your time and money and don’t step into this horrible place.

I would have gone straight to the 4 star review, but they must have an in-​house appraiser because their antique stuff is very on the money, which means not cheap for me.
They do have an antique floor– the staff is mostly inadequate, in that, most people working there don’t really know anything and really don’t want to help.
For example– tacky 70s lamp table with cabinet attached, not bad condition– missing shade– 30 dollars? WTF. Really, seriously? This was laminate. LAMINATE.
However, they are one of the only few places to fuel my salt n pepper collectibles issue.
I always stop, but I don’t have expectations and I know not to spend the money if I think the price is too high, as it probably is.

I agree with Kyle K, this is definitely one of the most expensive thrift stores I’ve ever been to. It’s a very big store with 3 floors of overpriced items (for a SA store). Lots of stuff was from Target and still had the Target price tags on, and some of the SA prices were the about the same as the Target prices!
Keep your eyes open, the storefront is not very well marked, so blink and you’ll miss it! Street parking is easy.
Basement — housewares, brick a brack, etc. I noticed lots of brand new stuff from Target. Lots of other junk.
Main floor — furniture. Expensive furntiure. There were two very nice vintage armchairs in the front that were $ 750 a piece!!! The furniture from Target was about the same price as you’d pay at the actual store! Books were nicely organized, but more expensive than other SAs. Some were marked upwards of $ 5 – 6, usually they’re no more than $ 2.50 for the big hardcover books.
Second floor — Clothes and also a «vintage» area where everything was very expensive. Clothes were also more expensive than other SAs and thrift stores.
We spent 1 hour here and didn’t buy a thing. Will not be back. Things are way too expensive here for a thrift store. Rather go to Family Dollar or an actual Target store and buy something new rather than salvaged.

This is the most expensive thrift store you could ever imagine. They do have a lot of stuff (some of it is even nice) but their prices are so high you can easily get the equivalent item in a regular store for a cheaper price.
I stopped in today to look at bicycles and saw a sign saying «All bicycles — 50%.» That gave me a smile and got my hopes up. I went to the bike area and found a dozen or two bikes ranging from kids’ bikes to mountain bikes, to pleasure cruisers. The bikes were in very poor condition — picture a 35 year old bike that was left on the side of the road and hit by a garbage truck. Next picture it covered in dust and with flat tires. Next picture the price tag stuck to the seat that reads $ 250.00.
All the bikes (even a pedal-​less kids’ bike) were priced at $ 100 or more. The highest one I saw was $ 350.00 for a department store plain carbon steel (not even 4130 or aluminum) frame mountain bike.
The person in charge of pricing at this store seems to be delusional.

I went to this location to stock up on items after moving cross country. Much of my great stuff in Cali went to them before I moved.
I was hoping to find a dish set and a few other items. Not only was all the bric-​à-​brac crappy … but it was overpriced for the SA.
I broke down and bought what looked like a new small rug for $ 10 … I know it would cost more elsewhere, but felt it was overpriced in any case.
They did have some nice looking furniture, but again, looked overpriced. Whomever is doing their pricing is having a field day, for sure. Maybe it’s because it’s kind of adjacent to the downtown area near northish … they figure they can gauge the downtowners who don’t know any better.
I have since gone to many other SAs in the region and they were all much better than this one, where I have found linens, coats and other stuff.
I have found that the further out I go, the lower the prices are. Makes sense. It was worth the train ride out to the store off Sheridan. Killer!
I won’t be back to this one soon, however.

I am a thrift-​store junkie. Live and die by Goodwill, Value Village, and everything in between. My mom shudders when she thinks that the vast majority of my clothes still come from a thrift store, and I am well past college and «needing» to shop at thrift stores.
Oh but I NEED to shop at thrift stores because it gives me purpose and meaning and that little flutter of joy when you find a treasure. And I will ALWAYS come out of a thrift store with at least 3 or 4 things.
Sadly, my love doesn’t extend to this Salvation Army, as I walked out dejected and empty handed.
Since it is so large, I thought there would be tons of great finds, but I was sad to only see overpriced… CRAP. Literally, broken, falling apart, crap. Sigh. I imagined it’s proximity to River North would mean a mecca of cast-​offs and hidden gems. Maybe I hit it on an off-​day, but my first Chicago thrift trip was an utter failure.