Jack’s Army Navy Thrift Store

The times I’ve gone in there I’ve noticed it is rather dark and musty. One time, I was looking at boots. One pair I saw had a huge spider web running through them. I picked one of them up and a spider came crawling out. I then heard the store clerk cussing out his wife. I guess they didn’t know I was in the store!
My wife & I went by there today. I guess the sign in back saying Open 11 – 6 didn’t mean anything because it was 11:30 am and the door was locked. I don’t know how this place stays in business either.
3÷19÷15 Update: Wife & I drove past there today & I see they’re going out of business. I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. I wonder how long their «going out of business» sale will last, since it’s apparently been going on for almost three months. I won’t miss you either!

Scary.

I have been here many times and spent a considerable amount of money here buying bdu’s, a pea coat, and wool army blankets. All my dealings were with Jack. He seemed to be a good guy.
Noticing the going out of business sign, I decided to drop by with my girlfriend to say goodbye to the place and see if we could find anything. I’m guessing Jack has passed on and that’s why they are going out of business, because his daughter was running the show.
Things started out ok, with idle chit chat between us three. I asked about the dog tag making machine, and if that’s something she’d sell. I recall Jack telling me he had acquired it at the Alameda Naval base when it shut down. Perhaps I offended her by asking, because she didn’t answer, and soon was rambling about retailers and a rude shopkeeper, who also sells surplus goods in town («Pakistani, or Filipino, I think…»), and something about how they sell babies in the Philippines for «Fie dolla!» She asked me rather pointedly if I had been in Jack’s before, and if I was a retailer. She continued to ramble stream of conciousness mumbo jumbo while I tried to humor her.
My girl and I were exchanging looks, but decided to continue shopping. Unfortunately they didn’t have any bdu’s that fit me, but my girl found some boxers she wanted. Then things got weird.
As I placed the boxer shorts on the counter saying «I guess we’ll just take these», she replied «No you won’t… because she thinks I’m rude!»
We had a back and forth exchange that just got weirder and weirder, culminating with the lady insinuating my girlfriend is wanted by the police, (I think?), before we just walked out empty handed.
That was one of the oddest shopping experiences. I was sad that Fremont is losing this funky, moldy little shop with so much character. But with the new shopkeeper being crazy insane, it may not be such a bad thing.

I have two words for this place – cray cray.
I sh*t you not. My hands are still shaking from my experience in there a few minutes ago. The woman that «works» there has serious issues and should NEVER work customer service positions. Oddly, she was nice enough when we walked in and asked if we had been shopping. I said yes because we had gone to Thrift Town and Dick’s earlier today. Then she started talking to no one in particular ranting about how much they sell babies for in the Philippines and with an inaccurate accent responded to herself, «Five dollah, five dollah.» Eric was chatting or trying to chat with her, but she kept derailing the conversation to whether or not he was a retailer or a wholesaler, I wasn’t really paying too much attention to her as I try to avoid hostile folk. I found some green boxer shorts and asked Eric to pay for them because she was acting strange and I didn’t want to interact with her myself. Eric tried to pay for the items and she said no because I was rude to her. I had no idea what she was talking about and told her as much. And she went off about how I am or I look just like the lady who is selling army navy surplus stuff at the store near Thrift Town and how the police are looking for someone who looks just like me. I reiterated that I had no idea what she was talking about, but she kept going on and on about the police and someone who looks like me and blah blah blah. I rarely bust out the «I’m an attorney» thing, but I did and she wanted me to show her my «attorney card.» For a split second, I thought about showing her my bar card, but knew that cray cray is cray cray and I walked out boxershortless.
Don’t go in there if you are Asian looking or look like a «retailer.» That woman needs serious help with her many, many, many issues.
It is probably for the best that this place is going out of business.

Too bad prices are at least double retail anywhere else. With the advent of the WWW, video rental stores, newspaper publishers and stores like this will fall by the wayside. The reputation is not there, as is the selection. Now days you need top Quality products at realistic prices. With the current state of the world, web based sites like Ebay or Epier have an great advantage The world evolves into the strong and reliable or the closed and defunct.

This place going out of business is fine by me.
Ive been going to Jack and Pats for decades (even in their old location). I stopped going a long time ago once i saw their outrageous prices. I don’t like to compare anyone to fleabay, but Jack must believe that his goods are gold plated with the prices that he wants for them!
My kids get a kick of going into their death-​trap of a store, so I do stop by to browse every now and then. Id love to buy some of the stuff that they have there, but you can buy them NEW for the price that they sell USED goods for!
The ladies behind the register: lazy, crude, and rude. Customer service is not their forte!
Too bad someone with CS skills couldn’t take over, organize, and do this gem well.
Jack and Pats, it was once fun… but I wont miss you!

Please don’t go into customer service jobs when you close this store. Based upon my experiences w/​this store I can certainly see why it’s going out of business. Yesterday my son, who is an antique dealer asked for an item, but used the wrong terminology. The nasty woman at the counter turned to her co-​worker and mocked my son, then told the co-​worker not to help my son. So, my son who had planned to spend money left immediately. Correct me if I’m wrong, but when you’re going out of business don’t you need to sell as much product as you can? That this rotten store is going out of business is a given. We’ve shown up during business hours only to find a closed store. Now this rudeness? Horrible experience and I’m not going to miss this place at all. Save your time and money and go somewhere where your money will be appreciated and the hours aren’t flakey.

Good luck finding a deal here. Their prices prices are outrageous. Double 40 mm molle pouch for $ 45.00, you can find the same thing on eBay for 11.00 with free shipping. I keep dropping in to see if they have anything reasonable but everything seems to be priced 4x the true value.

It was hard to find this place. The parking lot is unpaved, all gravel. It was kinda scary walking towards the entrance. I felt like Jason was waiting around the corner for me, luckily, I had my husband’s hand to hold on to. =)
When we walked in, there was a lady talking on the phone. She greeted us and we continued to look around. When she got off the phone, we asked her a few questions. She spoke rather loudly but she was friendly and helped us the best that she could. My husband tried on a few flight jackets, but unfortunately, they didn’t have anything in his size.
This is a cool place to window shop, they have all kinds of stuff. They even had cool pins on the wall for sale behind the counter.

Went on 2÷7÷14. Really wanted to buy some FTO pins and look for some jungle boots. Sadly enough they did not open. I was there at 1050, and left at 1200. No one was there to open the store. There was even a guy there who was waiting in the rain.
I used to come here a lot when Jack was still around. He was a nice guy. Knew how to run a surplus store. Knew that Ex Military, EMS, Fire and PD are punctual. He would have never opened up late. This is sad.. . When this place closes the next surplus store nearby is in San Jose or Alameda.. .

I used to love this place when Jack was alive, but now his daughter is running it like a crazy person, yelling at customers and closing early because she wants to go home. The store is interesting and unique, but it won’t stay open long with the way it’s run, and some of the prices for used musty clothing are insanely high. Stay away from this place and go to Mt. View Surplus, at least a crazy person isn’t running it!

I have bought stuff from here before… nice people. Except for today, I went in, Marie was her name, I wanted to buy a bicker jacket to stud and decorate, and she Flipped out on me because I was gonna resell it all studded up. She was swearing at me saying I was a nobody and no one wants to buy a studded jacket, and fuck you, fuck that and what not. Telling me Ive never bought from there, when I’ve spent over $ 500+ over the years. All when I was about to spend over $ 200 there, and that’s how she treats a costumer. This was the WORST service EVER. Never going back there for anything. Horrible place, now Jack is gone. That women has a lot of problems for screaming at a costumer over nothing!!!

I went to Jacks Army Navy thrift store and was very insulted by the ugly bitch working there. I was looking for a duffle bag and there was an other gentleman and his young son in the store. While we were shopping, the woman sales person started yelling at me and the other people to get out of the store. She said she was in a bad mood and wanted to close the store and would put an ad in the newspaper as to when she was going to reopen the store again. What kind of sick person says that to a customer? When I asked her where Jack was, she replied, «None of your fucking business, get the fuck off of my parking lot.» We were dumbfounded with her action since we didn’t know what prompted it. She stood there until we left. Don’t GO THERE! It is a dirty place, just like the employee who insulted us!

I’ve wanted to go to a military surplus store since I was in 5^th grade, but for some reason I waited until now to do so.
Parking is in back. There’s no pavement, just gravel and a few worn wooden signs with the store’s name on them. There were a few holiday decorations near the back entrance that looked out of place.
The lady working there was loudly arguing with a gentleman about online surplus stores or something. I’m pretty sure it was just friendly bickering between friends, but I’m not 100% sure. She did greet me while I was looking at jackets, asking if I need any help. I told her that I was just browsing and she stepped away. Can’t complain.
I got in and it was packed with stuff. There were bags/​backpacks, BDUs, blankets, boots, accessories, and even a shelf full of military books. I was hoping to find an M65 field jacket and there were easily 2 dozen of them in olive drab, black, and woodland camo. Some had liner, some didn’t. The M65 field jackets cost a bit more than I wanted to spend at that time, but I did find a German army parka with a fur liner that fit me perfectly for a reasonable price. Once I grabbed that, I went over to look at the boots, many of which were covered in dust. Sadly, they didn’t have any I liked in my size and price range. I’ll definitely go back and have another look, though.
I went up to the register while she was on the phone. After a few seconds she told the person she was talking to that she was about to help a customer and promptly gave me the total. She initiated some friendly smalltalk with me while she gave me my change and bagged my purchase.
Overall, it was a good experience. Yeah, the store was musty and the parking lot looks like it’s straight out of a horror film, but it adds charm, man. A friend of mine said Mountain View Surplus was a bit cheaper, but that’s nearly an hour away from my home in Hayward, whereas Jack’s is 30 minutes. I’ll be back after Christmas to check out the boots, bags, and maybe the books.

Went to this dump yesterday at 4:30 pm and was in there to find a backpack. At 4:35 pm this wreck of a lady asked me «Are you just about done because it’s slow and I want to get out of here». They say they are open until 6 pm but do they close when it’s slow? If that’s the case then they should never open. I rarely get on here to give a bad review but my experience in this piece of shit place pisses me off so bad. I am a veteran and this bitch treats me and possibly any customer with so much disrespect. I’m going to have to assume that she was never in the military and if she was… well I know why she’s out. F%^k this place!!!

I bought my favorite leather jacket from Jack’s, for $ 50. It is made out of different kinds of leather sewn together and I’ve never seen another one like it. They had another jacket that I really wanted, with an American flag on it, for $ 60, but I didn’t have another $ 60 right then. Someone else got a nice score! Even without the excellent finds, I would visit occasionally just to enjoy the hilarious arguments between Jack and his rabid-​right-​wing daughter. If you want everything to be spotless and sterile, and you want to be waited on by minimum-​wage employees who will politely ask for your email address so that some corporation can spam you, please go to the mall. Jacks is a great place to go for awesome deals on military surplus and random junk.
Update: I went by there today, and I am sad to report that Jack passed away about a year ago. His daughter still runs the place but she appears to have mellowed a lot. She didn’t spout any right-​wing propaganda while I was there, and she was very nice even though I am a hippie. I found a super-​cool hat and an awesome Wal-​mart security guard jacket, and some other nice stuff. The place is a lot cleaner and neater, but the back room where I always find cool stuff was locked. When I asked about it, the owner unlocked it and let me in; that’s where I found the wal-​mart jacket. Still a top notch one-​of-​a-​kind shop but not as cool without Jack.

Really wish they carried all services gear, but none the less it’s fun coming in and checking out what they have there

Stay away from here!!! I love this place, hate to see this place get gentrified! Got a WWII bomber and Letterman jacket here for cheap. Great assortment of vintage jackets. It’s like rummaging through your GrandPa’s attic.

Rip Van Winkle’s army surplus store. Looks like the owner woke up after a 20 year nap to a mildewed, decrepit store with piles of stuff everywhere in disarray. Prices are not so good and the selection of bags is weak. I’ll go to Mt View instead for surplus canvas bags.

Weird place. Smells funny. Odd owner. Pricy.
But… Does have legit military surplus stuff from several different decades.