St Vincent De Paul Stores

I’m in here pretty much every pay day!
The best thing about this location of St Vincent de Paul must be the books section. There are stacks upon stacks of books covering an entire wall. And these books aren’t those crappy types you’d find at an overpriced used book store. Many of them look brand-​new, and they range from current textbooks ranging a variety of subjects to fictional and non-​fictional. There are loads of best sellers and popular titles among the stacks. It can take a long time to get through all of the shelves!
To give you an idea of what sorts of neat books they have, today, I bought ‘Introducing Postmodernism’, ‘Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know’, and ‘A-​Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers’. Lots of fun.
I’ve also found some really cute additions to my wardrobe here, including my grad dress (bought the morning of grad!), a grey rectangle frock dress that I’ve received lots of compliments on, and basic flats for work.
One minor criticism I have is that the footwear seems to be a little overpriced. There are lots of well-​worn shoes that are dirtied up and tattered looking that are priced at $ 14. Come to think of it, the pricing seems a bit random when it comes to their clothing as well. Some things are very reasonable, while others, and I’m thinking about dresses specifically, are priced at $ 18, which seems a bit high regardless of the brand.
As another reviewer said, their furniture section seems to be in constant flux thanks to everyone’s high interest. Today, I was lucky enough to score a cute little white dresser for $ 20 and a nice white end table for $ 15. If you don’t drive or don’t have a vehicle that has enough room, they have a flat rate delivery fee of $ 40. The initial lady I spoke with even said she’d call a Westway van for me, since I was only getting two small items (she was replaced by a different worker who didn’t know what I was talking about when I asked again about Westway, but whatever. I opted for the delivery service). Delivery is between 9am-​12pm.

I shop at all area thrift stores regularly, and Unilocal’s «Woohoo! As good as it gets!» really applies here. The people running this shop are doing an amazing job.
It is astonishingly well-​organized for a thrift store. It is always clean. Staff are always friendly. Items are well sorted and very, very fairly priced — on our latest visit, we had just come from another thrift that had, among other absurdities, a broken cooking pot for $ 10, two toothbrushes _​not in the packaging_​still flung out for possible sale ($ 1.50), dollar store items at original or bigger prices… Somehow the SVP staff consistently manage to cull the broken garbage that clutters other thrifts, and still manage to offer everything at an excellent value.
We often leave with a clothing item from the ‘special’ (nicer) rack, because even though it is nicely curated and indeed better stuff, it is still a good deal. At other thrifts, a thing that the staff has identified as nice often means it’s out of reach of the lower income. ‘Specially priced’ here means a thing I can afford (and am cheerful about paying extra for, as I like supporting the SVP).
We also love the book selection! _​Wow_​. And it’s a great store for parents — a recent find was an as-​new $ 90 toy for $ 5, and the children’s clothing always has a few treasures.
It’s clear that the SVP respects their customers — this isn’t always the case at the average thrift. They are providing a badly needed and much appreciated service to Ottawa’s shallow-​pocketed.

SVP is one of my favourite stores in Ottawa. Every time I come and have a look, I always seem to come out with more than I intend to buy. For such a small area tucked in the hubbub of Hintonburg, they sure have an amazing selection of second-​hand stuff!
There aren’t as many clothes or household products as Value Village, but there are some real gems out there if you took the time to look. They have a well-​stocked library (well, book collection), so I particularly enjoy days when I happen by a book sale (like today, 4 for $ 1 mass market paperbounds!).
Their furniture area is also impressive and I like coming in on Saturdays when they haul up the new stuff. I remember coming on one such Saturday specifically furniture-​hunting for my new place, and sure enough I walked away with two antique drawers that were newly varnished for a reasonable price. The best part is, they also offer delivery for much cheaper than calling someone on Kijiji to come and pick it up! Trick is to get a few items at once for one cheap delivery price (it was less than $ 50 if I remember correctly).
It’s a great place to shop and get great deals. It’s really busy on the weekend though (closed Sunday) so come early and well-​prepared if you’re gunning for the furniture. Note also that the display items that are very tastefully displayed by the glass window are on sale, so don’t hesitate to ask if you want to take a closer look!

I was on the board of directors for a local women’s shelter, and this St. Vincent de Paul always let the women from the shelter come in with their children and pick out clothes and necessary items for FREE. These women flee with their children and usually nothing else so they are truly without any possessions. The St. V de P are good and kind people.

Whoever does the window displays in this store must have been inspired by New York’s fifth avenue. The diplays change often according to the season and the holiday, whether Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, Remembrance Day, Hallwe’en etc.
Inside is an excellent selection of donated items for sale, run by cheerful and dedicated staff. Everything from clothing to furniture to books to dishes.
Prices, as you might expect, are excellent and a real plus to anyone living on a reduced income, but also just a great store to browse in anyway to find something that can find a second life somewhere else.