A Review of The Hope Chest, St. Paul January 18, 2009

Yesterday I went to The Hope Chest in St. Paul, which is a like a high-end secondhand store with all proceeds benefiting breast cancer research. Anyway, they have about a dozen beautiful, mostly new dresses (donated from a local store). All of them were priced at $125 and were gorgeous. I didn’t have any luck but wanted to pass this tidbit along to other brides. The sized mostly ranged from 10-16, but there were a few smaller ones in there (nothing bigger than 16). You have to ask about the dresses because they are not out on the sales floor. They told me their Orono store doesn’t have any wedding gowns, so this is just at the St. Paul location. Good luck!!

Other than bridal gowns, they have an assortment of high-quality furniture, career clothing, shoes, decorative elements, framed art, etc. The prices match, but it’s good to know that all the money goes to a cause that is dear to many people.  Staff was really friendly and helpful, too.  If thrifting kind of eeks you out, but you like a bargain, The Hope Chest would be a good place to start.

A Review of Eagan Goodwill November 28, 2008

The Eagan Goodwill store was a pleasant departure from my Goodwill experiences of the past.  We found this store to be clean, sunny, and to have a variety of merchandise in excellent condition.  While there was a good selection, the store wasn’t packed to the gills, so you still felt relaxed and able to view what was there.  We noticed a lot of employees and so there were plenty of people when we needed to ask questions.  Of the Goodwills I’ve shopped in the Cities, this would be my location of choice.

One deal that stood out was that they had a large number of brand-new stretchy textbook covers for about $.35 each – perfect if you need to get any number of tween or teen small holiday gifts.

A review of Valu Thrift Store February 14, 2008

My favorite, favorite, favorite thrift store Valu Thrift in Sun Ray Mall (off of McKnight road and 94 in St. Paul, on the edge of Maplewood).

Occupying the former Penney’s store there, Valu Thrift is always extremely neat and the merchandise, especially clothes, is in really good shape. Very rarely will you find something with a stain or something that’s very worn. The prices are reasonable and on Mondays they have 25% off of everything. There is a huge selection. Unlike some other thrift stores, there are fitting rooms, but beware if you pull a bunch of stuff: you can only take in three items at a time. They mostly know when their goods are worth money, but we’ve found a gem or two to resell online.