A while back, Ed suggested the idea of checking out the Goodwill Outlet store. We had never gone to one before and were willing test a new experience. After reading online reviews, we grabbed some gloves and hand sanitizer and were on our way.
The outlet was set up as rows of bins into which employees just tossed all of the donated items. There was a pricing guide on the wall and you basically just had to dive in (hence the gloves and sanitizer). A lot of it was junk, and it was hard to sort through since many things were broken and most people didn't care about personal space. The most interesting part was when they wheeled out a bin of clothing. They brought out the bin that was covered with a sheet and wheeled it to its spot, between two lines of people waiting for it. Then an employee took the sheet off and everyone just went crazy scavenging, taking anything and everything. It was quite like a scene on the Discovery channel.
Despite all this strange activity, we both ended up finding a suitcase each! Both were in good condition and were decently priced. After taking them up to the register to pay, she rang them each up as half price! That was a totally unexpected but welcomed surprise.
We've used them a few times already - they're perfect for weekend trips!
The blue one is mine (did you guess that?) It still had a return address stuck to the inside!
I already had one of those incidents where I thought it was closed all the way, picked it up, and all my clothing fell out (classic movie blunder). It was so funny I couldn't even be mad!
The brown one is Ed's. Someone wrote "TOP" in marker on the outside of his (on the top of course). We think it's funny since it's not that hard to decipher which way is up.
I haven't had much time to take new blog photos since we're in between moving right now, but hopefully I'll get back into the habit soon.
Happy Thrifting!
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