American Cancer Society Discovery Shop

The short: overpriced, sparse clothing
Though the store is very clean and like a boutique, I feel that the prices are marked up simply because the store is in Los Altos. Also, where are all the clothes? All the racks were half-​full. Though there are some high-​end items here, I’ve definitely found a better selection elsewhere for a much lower price.
I might stop in every now and then to see if I can snag some good deals, but I don’t have my hopes set high for this place.

After 19 women’s reviews, now a man’s review! What, a review by a man of a consignment shop? Men don’t write reviews of consignment shops, as 95+% of the clothes and shoes are for women –which is why my wife when shopping for sandals, got me women’s sandals!
$ 140 pants, $ 390 fur vest. Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive? Try Discovery store Los Altos.
My wife works at the Discovery store in Sunnyvale. Sometimes she likes to go to the Discovery store in Los Altos to find expensive gently used clothes and shoes at discount prices. Expensive because Los Altos is a super expensive place to live –donations of the top 5%!
We had a coupon for Japanese sumo sushi restaurant in Los Altos, and decided to go early to the Discovery store nearby, which closes at 5pm on weekdays, but is open Saturdays and Sundays.
Like all consignment stores, the Discovery store stocks about 95% women’s clothes and shoes. Who says its a man’s world?
But what clothes they are. Italian designed Prada dress pants at $ 140, St. John’s Fur vest for $ 390. $ 135 for a sterling silver plate, probably traded in by a women’s Wimbledon winner down on her luck!
If you are spending the big bucks, you might as well get the monthly Discovery discount card for $ 25, which enables the customer to get 10% off all purchases for a month. Proceeds go to the the American Cancer Society.
The pickings for men are slim and none. The men’s clothes and shoes here are probably donated by their widows! As any living man would wear his clothes and shoes until they have holes in them! Would you wear a dead person’s clothes or shoes?!
My wife found a pair of men’s Chaco sandals, but they looked so feminine, with thin colorful crisscross straps on a black base, that they were in the women’s shoe section! $ 18 for Chaco Updraft Genweb Sports Sandals, normally $ 110 at REI And they looked unused with no wear on the bottom.
So now that I have another pair of Chaco sandals, my wife confiscated the Chaco women’s sandals that I had been wearing the past year. I showed her how to adjust the three straps on the sandals, and now they fit just fine. Now if I can only get her not to wear those pink socks with her light blue crisscross strap sandals!

I drop in monthly when I am in Los altos but have never found anything worth buying, which is sad. I am not even discussing prices, which I find too high for such boring (though somewhat high end only with no sparkle or personality). I have never found anything interesting, even for browsing. I am not sure why this is because Menlo Park’s branch has really great items. Sorry. I wish you had better items because I love thrift store shopping.

Clean and well organized shop. Many «designer» and name brand clothes but prices are high. Good selection of interesting jewelry and nick nacks. Some great buys on complete China sets, mostly vintage high-​end purchases. Lots of crystal or cut glass dishes, and old cocktail glass sets. Great furniture from time to time. To take advantage of what this shop has to offer one has to stop in and do a lap around the store whenever downtown. Items change frequently. Staff pleasant and store well-​run. I’m a devoted customer.

I have been donating here for the last 20 years. The volunteers are always ready to help and make the process easy. It is however difficult for me to walk out without doing my own shopping.
This place has nice higher-​end selection of goods. I even found some of my Arthur Court collection here.
If you are in Los Gatos. this is one place you want to stop and shop. Plus it all goes to a good cause.
Today I got a call from the manager letting me know that my husband pants that I donated had some cash in it. How honest can that be. Thank you!

Volunteers are friendly and helpful. Shop is clean and organized. Fast service at cashier and donate process with receipt.

I stumbled upon this store by accident while strolling through downtown Los Altos. The store has a rather limited selection of clothing. Most of the clothing was Talbots brand, and the styles seem to skew towards women ages 40 and above. I did see some St. John pieces.
I even saw a vintage Burberry trench coat although whether it’s authentic is another question. It was priced at $ 250.

This is a really great shop run almost entirely by volunteers. It is not as if they are buying the clothes, bric a brac etc., they are getting their items donated… so people must bear that in mind when they cannot find what they want when they want it. It is clean, bright cheerful and with a selection of lovely items. I love going here and I thank the volunteers for putting up with us, the complaining members of the public, as the shop is very well run indeed, organized and a pleasure to go into. Thank you for those donating and those volunteering and excuse the critics, they should take up volunteering and it would help them understand a little more. Long may you be in Los Altos.

It’s poorly run. They could make even more moulah. This place is crammed with stuff, but it’s all in the back because winter dresses are out of season.
But even if it’s summer, I would love to buy a evening gown if it’s a good price.
All the clothes are overpriced.

I love a good deal. No, correction… I live for insane bargains. You know that feeling when you buy something that you just adore and giggle as you leave because the deal was so good they may of well have paid you to take it? Yep, that’s how I felt the first time I wandered in.
The quality of the clothing is really good. Designer clothes are in the mix. The layout of the store is as nice (even better) than most major retail chains. Everything is hung by size and style. The average cost of just about everything is $ 8. The day I went in they were having a sale on jewelry. You got a necklace with earrings for $ 6.99 (I’ll include photo’s). It’s a larger store than it seems from outside and there are multiple dressing rooms. Unlike other places where you’re lucky if there is one dirty room to try things on. The store was clean and had no funky odor– like mothballs or old stuff from someone’s attic. The shop owner was kind and helpful.
The only reason I can’t give 5 stars is because I felt the store really lacked any selection of smaller sizes in bottoms. They had plenty of tops and dresses to choose from. But pants, jeans, skirts, shorts, etc. if you’re a small there is almost no selection and the items that are in the «small» section are more like 3 – 5. If you need a 1 – 3 you’re out of luck.
I’ll be back for sure, since new items arrive daily. I hope I haven’t just given away my best kept secret. But I really do enjoy sharing good deals with friends.

I love this place! When I walk in, I always feel like I am entering a very nice boutique. The volunteers are so nice, and they do a beautiful job of preparing and arranging the items in the store. They feature high quality, new, as well as new-​looking (next-​to-​new) items throughout the store. I have found SO many wonderful things for reasonable prices. And what better cause is there to donate our money to, while at the same time finding some great bargains?

ACSDS is a very interesting shop. It is small, but not crowded with a limited selection. It carries furniture, dishes and china, and antiques in addition to clothing.
I thought that the clothing was not as strong as all of the other fun stuff. I couldn’t find anything that fit, but there were a few nice pieces around.
I am not an antiquer — but just wanted to take home all of the vintage typewriters and stuff. If nothing else, it is a fun place for a quick stroll. And the people were nice.
Left empty handed, but had a pleasant experience.

this is a good store to visit if you want to purchase gently used clothing in good to excellent condition. i appreciate that the staff spends a good amount of time vetting out the donated clothes to ensure that they are in good enough condition to sell. in addition to clothes, they also carry gently used shoes, accessories, housewares, kitchenware, and books.
while shopping here, i’ve found a number of blouses, skirts, dresses, and pants that are in excellent condition and priced extremely well. some of these items are in better condition than clothes i have in my own closet!
for those wanting to donate, you can bring your items to the store and receive paperwork for tax deductible purposes. any donated items that the staff feels cannot be resold will be forwarded on to goodwill.

Clean store with plenty of treasures… just good, neat or even new clothes, even designer clothes, accessories, furnitures. You never know what you will find as it is only donations (high quality) and there is something for every buyer… This is the place to go to be surprised

This place is really nice, but realllly upscale. If you want a set of fine china, or crystal water goblets, or very select designer clothing, come here. The price is reasonable for those things, but if you’re looking for cheap thrift store finds, you’re not going to find a steal of a corduroy blazer that smells like cigars for $ 4.
It’s a pretty small place, too, and the management is really friendly, the inventory is pristinely cleaned and polished, all of which gives it much more of a boutique feel than a thrift store feel. Definitely fits in with the feel of the cute downtown Los Altos!

This is a great place to cruise for small antique furniture or home decorative items. You can also negotiate a bit with the Manager if you’re interested in multiple items. As a local & a shopper on the younger end of their spectrum, I also appreciate what it takes for volunteers to ru a nice little shop like this.

As a former volunteer here, I can really appreciate the effort it takes to run one of these stores. Each piece of clothing is individually steamed, cleaned, and priced accordingly. Every single item of silverware or china has been polished vigorously. The women working here are really amazing.
You can find real treasures here, and even better, it’s for charity.

Really nice staff. Small selections, small store. Some good clothes in here for women, none for men.
Lots of traffic and turnover so I suppose you can drop by a couple of times a week if you live close and are in the market for women’s clothes (I’m not).
Short review cause there is not much here and not much to say. Won’t let you use the bathroom either.

Clean and neat store with friendly volunteers. Generally has a good selection of designer wear with great prices. Even better prices on Jones, Claiborne and everyday labels. I just got a year-​old Tommy Bahama dress for $ 25. Often has great buys on furniture and household accessories. Always worth a look. Often has unique and exotic things.
Cleaner and less expensive than the newly re-​done GW next door.

Small shop, a few doors down from the Goodwill Boutique. This shop rarely has a lot of stock of clothing, etc… the items they have are higher end, designer but it seems so well picked over and many times, not much stuff in the store.