The Salvation Army

With 4 children we have to be thrifty shoppers. We enjoy shopping at Salvation Army and other thrift stores, but literally walked out of the Gardner store very disappointed and kinda pissed on 08−16−14.
Used, beat up, dirty, boys sneakers: $ 9.99. Kids paperback book: $ 4.99. Kids t-​shirt: $ 3.99.
None of which were super high quality, major, name, high fashion brands. The shoes and t-​shirt were Wal-​Mart brand items.
An elderly woman was looking for a blanket or quilt for her dog. There was a fake sheepskin, brown, worn out, stained blanket marked $ 39.99. The woman said that she had to look 3 times at the price because she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.
Something isn’t right there…
Not sure if it’s the management or an employee marking the items at these prices, but it’s wrong, crazy and unfortunate.
We visited a Salvation Army store in Portsmouth, NH and filled a giant bag with shoes, clothing, a giant crockpot, and other various items for $ 35 bucks a few weeks ago and most of the items were brand new with the store tags still attached.
Out of curiosity, we took a ride over to the big Fitchburg Salvation Army and wow! What a price difference! How can the prices differ so much between the stores? Why is Gardner overpriced by so much?
Skip Gardner and go over to Fitchburg, Turners Falls, Greenfield or Hadley next time. Worth the drive!

Kids clothing has an ok selection.
The bad things — if you want a donation slip, they are very unfriendly about helping you. The parking lot is tiny and hard to turn in. The donation area is nasty. It’s crowded and hard to push a carriage in.

This is a great sals. The staff is agreeable and the clothes are well priced. I have found a couple of my all time favorite pieces here.
when you are out this way, thrifting is a great way to fill a day in the sticks. And this is one of the best places to do it at.
why only 3 stars? well the selection is VERY hit or miss and the shoe selection leaves a lot the be desired.