Value Village

I admit it. I used to be one of those people that was all squeamish about shopping for stuff at Value Village. I guess the stigma attached to «discount shopping» was tough to overlook during my younger years. It’s funny how I never felt the same way about rummaging through piles of stuff in vintage shops on Queen West though. :p Now that I’ve grown up and have resolved some of my idiosyncrasies, I have finally come to grips with the recycled suburban lifestyle.
As a mom of a rapidly sprouting 10 month old baby girl, it was pretty shocking to see a bunch of shirts I just bought a few weeks ago for her no longer fits. And at about $ 15– $ 20 a shirt, the vision of our dwindling retirement savings was hard to ignore. And since we already had a bunch of hand-​me-​downs from her older cousins, picking up more stuff from Value Village seemed like a natural extension to keep her drawers stocked with proper fitting clothes.
So we braved a rain storm and visited this location on Harwood. I tend to prefer driving out East to shop than into the city since there never seems to be a parking issue in the burbs. And this was the same story here. This Value Village is located off of Harwood Ave just north of Kingston Rd. There is ample parking and since the store is in a newish looking plaza, it looked well-​managed from outside.
Walking into the store, the cleanliness and the tidiness continued to the inside, with well-​labeled rows of clothing, household items, movies and other miscellaneous items on good display. After browsing the baby isles for about 30 min, we scored some adorable long sleeve shirts, a sweatshirt and a couple of pairs of cozy sweatpants. And the grand total came to… drum roll… a whopping $ 23 including tax. That’s 7 items!!! Even on the best of sales, all of these things would have easily cost over $ 60+.
I must say, visit to this Value Village has definitely made a convert out of me and I will definitely be returning for more items soon.