Boomerangs

I really, really wanted to love this place. Thrifty type stores are so much fun to scavenger around in and try to find that hidden gem. Well, first off I had to park a few blocks away. It was a beautiful day out today so I think more people than usual were out. My Fitbit said I needed the extra steps anyway.
Walking in I immediately felt cramped. There were a lot of people here for the amount of space there is. The clothes are color coordinated, which for my OCD was very satisfying to see. Prices aren’t on the actual merchandise for certain racks of clothes. They are priced according to the type of clothing. There’s a sign on the wall. T-​shirts $ 5. Tank tops $ 4. And so on. I didn’t care for this. I kept having to glance at the wall to see which item was what price. Not necessarily a bad thing but just not my preference.
Knickknacks are at the back of the store. A few big items too. A hutch that was priced so cheap I took a second look at the price tag. Shoes, belts, purses in the middle.
There was one shirt that I liked and thought about buying but the line was about 15 people long.
I wouldn’t deter people from going here but I definitely won’t be driving the 35 minutes it took me to get here again.

Can you say «unappreciative?» I donated some things to this store last weekend. When I asked if they were accepting donations, the guy asked me what I was going to donate. When I said it was clothes and accessories, he said «that’s okay .» Wow, thanks ! They also just put my stuff on a table that was right next to the dumpster and started sorting. I am sure all places throw out some of the things we donate, but they are not all so obvious, or so ungrateful. They also did not offer me a receipt.
I only donated there because I had rented a car, and it was easy to pull in to their parking lot.
From now on, I will continue to donate things like two new VS bras, a Michael Kors bag in excellent condition, and barely worn Danskos to Goodwill.
I don’t know who does the hiring there, but if you are hiring people to help give them work skills, teach them some work skills.

We donated our living room set (leather couch, some Ikea miscellany) today, and the whole process was great. We filled out their online form, Colin got back to us very quickly, we sent photos of the furniture that we wanted to donate, and he arranged a pick up date. The wait for a pick up was only a couple of weeks, even in the busy Boston moving season!
The van showed up on time, the two gentlemen who took the furniture out were very polite, efficient, and were careful not to bump our walls.
I highly recommend donating here if you are moving, or just refreshing your apartment. Great cause, great staff, great experience.

This place is great and has a mission with a great cause. Unlike a thrift store that pays management tons of money and disabled people literal change (GW), Boomerangs helps the community and gives a second life to gently used items.
I’ve donated a few times and it’s a little bit of a pain getting into the back parking lot initially but they do this for organization.
The staff are ALWAYS really nice and a large part of the proceeds goes to helping people.
I almost knocked a star off because trying to donate furniture (excellent condition dresser and bookshelves) is worse than online dating in terms of them wanting photos, sizes and organizing a pick up. Thankfully, we met a single mother who could use Pottery Barn furniture and organized a truck for her.

I used to absolutely love Boomerangs in JP, my husband and I have been going there for 4 years and much of our apartment is furnished and decorated with pieces from Boomrangs. We love the organization and have always found them to be friendly and the prices to be reasonable. Unfortunately I have noticed a trend in the last 6 month or so, I’m not sure if there is a new pricing manager or if they were asked to bump up the prices but all of the furniture and goods has become unreasonably high priced. A scratched and battered bureau of drawers that would have cost 50 dollars last year has suddenly jumped to 125, an old/​beat-​up/​scraped set of leather chairs that look that they should be left on the street curb for free are price at 350 EACH (true story). Many of their furniture pieces now seem to stay on the floor for a much longer time because of this poor pricing; for instance those ridiculously priced leather chairs have been on the floor for more than 3 weeks. We used to stop by every weekend but wont be frequenting the store anymore since a lot the pieces could be bought brand new and unscratched for similar prices at a store or for about 75% less at goodwill. I hope that they re-​evaluate their pricing system.

The manager, a fellow named Chris, is always trying to make sure the merchandise is laid out in a way that makes customers both comfortable and curious. Two good qualities for a store with SO MANY possibilities. Children’s books are only 50 cents to a dollar; and adult books, affordable every day, are half price on Thursdays. Instead of offering kids ice cream or cookies for good behavior, I tell them they can earn Boomerangs’ books! They love the safe independence of being able to choose their own books!
One of my favorite 50 cent mugs, turned out to be a $ 40 mug from Italy ! The opportunities to buy original art at affordable prices, has turned my plain walls into an extensive, and varied collection. I’ve purchased Alaskan masks, African headrests, metal sculpture, signed glass balls; and statues, I’ve drooled over, in expensive catalogues — for less than $ 20.
The window auctions culminate in live auctions (that you do not have to attend).
But it is a very eclectic group of people who show up for them; and the bidding can be passionate. I bid on a Southwestern bear fetish, and took it home home for less than 10% of what it would cost in a gallery.
Unlike the tedious arrangement at another second hand store, Boomerangs arranges clothing by size, not color. (Which is very appreciated by short customers, like myself!) Hand loomed and woven, woolen scarves can be found for less than $ 10, Peruvian gloves were only $ 5 last winter. Finding treasures, whether its clothing or art, requires being willing to visit Boomerangs, at least once a week. There’s no guarantee that you are going to find a Stradivarius on your first visit, or even the second.
But every visit gives you an opportunity to help people with AIDS; which makes it well worth the trip.

Great thrift spot. This location especially. Friendly staff. They rotate their inventory fairly regularly so if you live in the area you can go in there and still find new stuff all the time.

Okay — first I want to say that I love this store, I love what they sell, and I like the staff, no problems with any of that, but I have a gripe: wanting to make Boomerang’s «welcoming», staff are instructed to put up with bad behavior from customers that wouldn’t be tolerated elsewhere, behavior that can make shopping at Boomerangs unpleasant as hell. Examples:
1. You go in to browse, and the entire time you’re there, all you can hear (over the music, no less) is one loud mouthed individual on her cell phone. By the time you leave the store (sooner than you wanted to, thanks to Big Mouth Betty), you know that she has Red Sox tickets, a new dining table, and that grandpa fell out of his chair again. No staff member will ask her to speak quietly. Customers even yap on cells at the register, despite a sign asking them not to, but the clerks keep mum and the rest of us must listen.
2. You go in to browse, you have a sofa or chair in mind, and you discover that every stinkin’ chair, sofa and recliner in the place has someone sitting in it. The store looks like a bus lobby, people sitting or sprawled all over furniture that people donated to be sold. On a «thus far» white sofa, we have baby Billy in his diaper, squirming around. Beside him is uncle Ted, holding a big, ol’, uncovered cup of coffee. Across from him is his wife (I swear, entire extended families do this) holding a coke while she organizes her pocket book, and two other people who look around the store blankly are sitting elsewhere with their feet on a coffee table, making it hard for customers to look at the things displayed on it. I could understand an elderly or handicapped person sitting for a spell, but these clowns CAMP OUT, sitting for an hour or so, like it’s the «thing» to do, the place to see and be seen. DUH. At a dining table that’s for sale, we have Charlie, organizing his wallet, checking cell calls, (he does this every Tuesday and Thursday) and a nice antique chair near the book section has someone sitting in it, disinclined to let anyone see the chair, while he reads War and Peace from cover to freaking cover. Staff has been instructed to not say anything to these folks either.
3. You go in to browse, and little Juan and Millie are having fun in the middle of the floor, stacking books and kitchen utensils that you must step over. Staff will say nothing. Nearby, there’s a bin on the floor filled with merchandise being put in shelves. Grabby customers paw through the bin, unwrapping things, making a mess, and staff says nothing. In another corner, a drunk is nodding off.
Yeah, I know, Boomerangs isn’t some trendy store on Newbury Street, and thankfully not all customers are as described, but it IS a store, not a bus stop, or a half way house, or a community center, or a homeless shelter. Treat all customers — even them — with respect, but have parameters and think of OTHER customers who are inconvenienced by this crap! There’s a difference between being «welcoming» and refusing to run a business AS a business, in this case, with sales geared to fighting AIDS. THAT is the bottom line Boomerangs, not being «nice» to the point of the absurd.

Reasonable priced thrift store.
It may take several visits to find what you need but there is a peace of mind knowing they won’t rip you off.

Good shop… brain dead staff.
Went to the counter to make a purchase, the clerk was sitting down three feet from me behind the counter and seemed more interested in chatting with some guy (who was probably trying to get into her pants) than with taking care of customers. It took a while but she finally stopped sipping her coffee, got out of her seat and took care of me, the entire time chatting with the guy.

I feel Boomerangs is a great thrift store. Their business intentions are good and solid selection of items with friendly staff. I regularly donate and then turn around and pick up items, like that much needed shelf for my eclectic style place. There are parking lots nearby but they can fill up quick. Drop off donations in back is very convenient. Check it out!

I cannot say enough good things about this store. It’s one of the best thrift shops I’ve ever been to, and you can’t help but feel great shopping there because the proceeds go to a great cause. Almost every time I’ve been there I’ve found something wonderful for dirt cheap. Criterion Collection DVDs for $ 5, beautiful BCBG dress for $ 12, and about half the stuff in my kitchen for even less. LOVE this place. The staff are always happy to help, and the quality of the stock is consistently good. Even the book section is varied and interesting, instead of just a mass of old self help books or discarded Oprah’s Book Club selections. Definitely worth your time

The weirdest stuff you never knew you needed until now. Killer selection of furniture on the cheap. Random children running through the store. Requisite hipsters trying oh-​so-​desperately to find something original in the rows of clothing. Insane window displays. You can spend hours in this place or fifteen minutes. Doesn’t matter.

This is one of the best thrift stores I’ve ever visited. Great, friendly staff and shopping for a good cause. They have a lot of great finds as far as fashion but I think the best part is their homeware. I ended up getting a ton of stuff for my new apartment for under $ 40. Only con would be the parking but hey, that’s Boston for ya.

Boomerangs has a good business policy and a solid selection that I can get behind. Sometimes it takes a couple visits to find what I want, but the staff is always positive and friendly, so I don’t mind coming back time and again.
What’s more, the proceeds from all sales are partially given to HIV/​AIDs research, so I feel good shopping there, too.
Overall, the most important thing about any store is the service and selection, though. With Boomerangs, the quality of products is always consistent. Their resources are limited to what the community brings them, but I respect their dedication to only taking the best. And best of all, this shop is really close to public transit, so I can get here from Brighton really easily.
I love this store, and I hate clothing shopping. That’s about as good as it gets.

Really interesting things in here. Definitely worth dropping by if you are already in the neighborhood.

Boomerangs is great for shopping, but the best thing they offer is free furniture pick-​up when you would like to donate. There are very few options for donating in the area, and I couldn’t find any other store that would pick up for free. Just be sure to call a few weeks in advance, because they need time to schedule the pick up.

I just LOVE this place.
The staff is nice. The stuff on the store is awesome and cheap.
You can find stuff there you couldn’t find anywhere. Every day they have stuff on sale and on Thursdays books are 50% off! I’m a bookaholic so that’s big for me. And it’s all for a good cause!

Why is Boomies awesome? For three main reasons: killer finds, community involvement, and charity! Helping people by buying incredible treasures?! Uh yeah! Here are some of the most stellar treasures I’ve found there:
A black Persian lamb cape: $ 18
A white whicker vanity and chair: $ 70
A black beer stein engraved with a poem: $ 2
A glass three legged artsy coffee table: $ 40
Turquoise crocodile pumps:$ 8
An urban outfitters denim jacket:$ 6
A leopard print backpack:$ 4
Convinced yet?
I also have to give them a shout out for letting local theater company Divine Stage Works take over their windows to promote a show. A true community gem, full of diamonds in the rough, and yes, lots of junk you don’t want.

Ok Booms, you won me back. Perhaps I knew your old batch of employees too well (they were 75% honest to goodness assholes!) or I’m softening up in my old age. But the people who work in the back, receiving and sorting, are so freaking sweet and nice now! And since that was pretty much my only complaint, I guess you get my vote now. I mean, it’s still dirty but it’s a thrift store, what do you expect? The staff have cleaned up a bit, which gives me hope that showering is coming into style for hipsters. Please, if you are a cool kid, spread the word that showers are the only way to prove your hipness. Showering is the new fixie.
I’ve only gone into the store a couple of times since we parted ways a few years ago, so maybe those hipster fucks still work in the retail part of the store. But I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.