The Salvation Army Family Store

Two words: BED BUGs
mattresses, bed frames, comforters, pillows or anything bed room’s related… are infested with BED BUGS. Even clothings, shoes etc are also infested with fleas, roaches and roaches eggs and others very small creatures you WONT be able to get rids of once you invite them into your home when you buys stuff from this thrift store.
The mattresses and bed room furnitures are donated from local motels /​hotels. Salvation Army pick them up and put them in their thrift store for sale. You think you got a bargain buying these items cheap and ended up with un-​invited «guess» into your home. These small creatures are hard to get rids of and will multiplies. It will cost you a lot of times and moneys to make them go away.
«The clothes, linnens and everythings comes straight out of the donation collection trailers where they been stored for weeks, months all mixed in with feces, urines and bugs and go straight to the store to be sold to the public» … Said an employee working at this location.
He said the roaches comes from donated microwave ovens and kitchen appliances. Once you brings them into your home, it will be impossible to get them out. He told me I would be better off buying them new.
He obviously is not a happy employee. He said the working conditions is horrible and there are so many health, safety hazard working in a thrift store. He and other have gotten bitten with bugs on their arms, legs and even necks if they are not properly covered when processing the donated merchandises.
This is so sad that these workers are being exploided and working in such a poor conditions. They are afraid to report or speak up about these health hazard fearing that they would loose their jobs.
I stop going to Salvation Army thrift stores looking for bargain. Will take the hints from this worker and buy new from now on instead.
Buyers be ware.

came here before shop here sometimes good service okey selection im a fan

For years, I clothed my family and furnished my house with beautiful, serviceable things from this store. I live in San Francisco and am constantly strapped, so I could never shop anywhere else, but still, people were always asking me where I got my amazing jacket or that lovely piece of furniture. I always considered myself a sort of secondary client of the Salvation Army – not in need of their charitable services at the moment, but standing at the precipice, subject to falling at the slightest misfortune. And keeping me upright, in large part, was the fact that I could buy almost everything I needed for cheap at the Salvation Army. I thought that was part of their mission, in fact – to help poor people who were still, though barely, making it. Apparently not.
In the last couple of years, the management seems to have decided that the poor people who buy their goods should be supporting the poor people who have already fallen from the precipice. Their prices have skyrocketed. Two pillows for $ 50 is not something that a broke person can justify. But it was touches like that, which were unattainable for me otherwise, that made my home beautiful. The price of the clothing (which was always on the ratty side compared to Goodwill’s anyway) is ridiculous, and so is what they charge for the piles of bric-​à-​brac. They put anything that might be (though often is not) remotely nice into the insanely overpriced «Quality Corner.» And the sales they used to have are no longer.
Now the Salvation Army is just like any other store: full of stuff I can’t afford. Of course, that stuff is randomly jammed together with tons of junk that requires a lack of fastidiousness to even approach. That was always the price you paid for the price you paid. The management should realize that they’re never going to attract a Nordstrom clientele – their customers have more time than money and can’t afford to be squeamish about other people’s fingerprints.
And they can’t afford the new prices. I am never going again, and I’m telling everyone I know to stick with Goodwill. Salvation Army management, you are shooting yourselves in the foot. It’s depressing to think that you’ve joined nearly every other institution in making life harder for the people who are still making it, but barely. Unless you want more clients for your charitable endeavors, you should do a little for us.

This is my favorite thrift store in San Francisco. I have had good luck with children’s clothes, furniture, and kitchen wear. However, you do need to pay attention — the low quality furniture is about the same price as you would buy it new. You need to be able to recognize good quality stuff or think of your purchase a donation to a charitable organization instead of a multi-​nation company (I’m thinking Ikea).

Note: not commenting on the stores but their donation pick up service. Just want to let people know that when scheduling pick up donations online takes a month for pick ups too long and my experience they unexpectedly canceled on the date for pick up when I left all items outside for them now I have to put all back inside. If I can I recommend Out Of The Closet donation stores they schedule just two weeks for pick ups.

Shockingly overpriced. Used beat up Ikea furniture is for sale here at above brand new retail prices.
Clothing selection is much more reasonably priced.
It’s an OK place, but don’t go here for furniture.

Review regarding the store’s pickup truck:
I made an online reservation to have the truck come by an pickup 4 boxes of clothes for donation. Two weeks later I get a call from 415 642 1184 (it said pinehurst lodge on caller id) on the day of pickup. It sounded like some young guy I assumed may have been a telemarketer, so I asked what the call was in reference to. The response I was given was «your 4 box pickup». Right off the bat, he was nasty. I advised him the number had grown to 6 boxes now. Without skipping a beat, he says that we have to send a truck and 3 people to pick it up and its not worth it for them. What’s the point of having this service?

We went in looking for a couch to hold us over until our stuff arrived from Australia. We left with a fantastic, simple but stylish couch, some mid century style chairs and an end table — all for less than what one vintage chair would’ve cost us a few hundred metres down Valencia. The Store Manager and a team member named Dexter were both very helpful and even gave us a contact to deliver our stuff same day for $ 60 across the city. Very impressed.

one of the best in town for furniture and clothing. i found many cool things there

Always worth stopping in for a moment. Jump on something you like though, because I guarantee it wont be there a day later. A wonderful and sweet man with a truck will deliver in San Francisco if you’re like me and don’t have a car or drive, for a small price (cost me $ 20 to drive me to my place, carry my purchased chair to my apartment and drop me back off at the shop since my friend had parked his bike there).
Love living nearby and always make it a point to stop in when I have time. Never know what treasures you’ll find!

Love Love Love this place, I like to buy things and fix them up. I always walk away with so many treasures. Keep donating everybody. It helps everyone.

My love affair with Sally’s Army dates back longer than I’d like to admit. As a seasoned thrifter, I’ve found my most valuable items from here over the past decade, ranging from mid-​century teak furniture for no more than $ 20 each to vintage coats for less than $ 10. Am I a hoarder? Maybe. Will I stop? Absolutely not, as long as Sally’s is around. I make weekly visits to report on my finds and post them on my blog:
I get no kickbacks from them. I’m doing this out of the goodness of my thrift loving heart. You’re welcome.

Have bought some amazing pieces of furniture here — other stuff as well, and have always had great service.

They have extremely frequent 50% off everything in the store sales, and will often heavily discount larger /​pricier items that have been there a while if you ask a manager. It’s also a HUGE thrift store; easily one of the biggest I’ve seen. Lots of furniture (couches, tables, chairs), lots of kitchen stuff, and an entire huge half the store for clothing. Frankly, one of the best quality thrift stores I’ve ever seen.
Always has people, but fast checkout, competent staff who actually are willing to help. If you buy large furniture, there’s always some Hispanic men parked around the corner in pickup trucks who have an «arrangement» with the staff to (for a relatively cheap price) move your newly purchased couch, or table, or whatever to your apartment.
I knocked off a star because, frankly, I hate Salvation Army’s religious bent, it’s attitude towards homosexuality, and it’s proselytizing.

It’s aight. I got like 6 butter knives, 3 spoons, and a fork for a $ 1.25.

My review only concerns donating to this store, not the great work the organization does in the community…
The reason I’m writing this is if you call them when you are moving and are in a pinch to get furniture out of your old place, don’t be too surprised if they don’t take some or most of it.
Here is our story…
A friend was moving and called the Salvation Army to donate some furniture because my friend supports their hard work.
We were both aghast at what transpired when the Salvation Army truck arrived. In less than a minute the pick up people rejected all my friend was going to donate and accepted nothing.
They made the excuse there was a scratch here or there and their supervisor was very picky with what they would accept. After this distasteful experience I went down to the store and looked at the furniture they had for sale. Much of it was in a lot poorer condition than what my friend wanted to donate to them.
I told my friend about this and the best we could come up with was the Salvation Army truck guys did not want to move some large heavy pieces — In reality the guys they send out are a bit lazy and don’t want to move anything big or heavy.
In my opinion The Salvation Army Store could have made a lot of money on the good furniture my friend wanted to donate to them. I find this ironic because when you look in their Valencia street store it is a mess with all sorts of useless junk and has definitely gone down hill in the past six months.
I hope this heads up saves your from hassles when you are on a tight schedule to move out of your old place.

Perhaps my belief that Salvation Army stores should be THRIFT stores is outdated because the prices here are higher than I expected. You should wait for a sale. I donate carloads of good stuff to this store all the time but I still expect a decent discount on used goods from strangers, especially because I’m going to spend time cleaning the heck out of whatever I buy here. Plus now they don’t even have 10 cent bags, you can choose their branded reusable 50 cent or $ 1.00 bags.
For example:
Today, I bought a little play teapot — with its original price tag of $ 1.49 for the low SA price of $ 1.39. Was it new? No. It was completely black inside and required a lot of washing. But they sure sealed the lid on tight with tape so I didn’t check it before I bought it.
Another example:
I also got a Winnie the Pooh toy — with its original price tag of $ 3.99 for the low SA price of $ 3.99. Was it new? No. I had to scrub playdoh off its head. I’m uploading a photo just to prove it.
When you first come in, check out the «Quality Corner.» There’s still tons of crap in there but they do at least TRY to put the nicest stuff in there, from clothes to toys.

WARNING: this store is NOT for amateurs.
If you’re not up for browsing through rows of unorganized, assorted and possibly dirty clothing, then you don’t belong here. This is by far my favorite thrift store in the city because they have a HUGE selection of clothing &I’m always guaranteed to leave with a $ 2 shirt and a bunch of other cheap goodies.

Everything’s great but the egotistic manager.
Beware if you buy furniture that you need to dismantle a bit to fit into your car. On two different occaisions I bought a huge 6×7 foot room divider that had been screwed into a stand. I was told I had to pay for it, then take it outside to the side walk and dismantle it myself with whatever tools I had to bring myself. They are forbidden to help you due to liability. Fair enough.
Second time, I bought a small desk with metal legs. I’m sitting on the filthy sidewalk and found it impossible to take apart. Because of this, I gave up and asked to return the item. I had tightened everything back as it was. They DO have a return policy. Fair enough.
The manager threw a fit and told me he could «ban» me from coming back again. What? I had been polite — just asking to return it because I could not fit it in my car, or remove the legs. For this I get yelled at?
On the other side…
The guys helping in the store and lifting furniture are in the drug rehab program across the street on Valencia. They must volunteer hours at the store as part of their clean and sober program. These guys are polite, caring and have great work attitudes!
I love the cause — and will continue to support it. Unfortunately I will never buy furniture there if I can’t fit it into my own car by myself. And try to avoid talking to the manager!

Their jewelry selection really sucks here. I mean really sucks. They mostly have cheap plastic beads stranded into bracelets and necklaces. I don’t think it is even worth the space it takes up in those glass cases.- Before they moved the jewelry location to where it is now, they had a better selection, once I bought a little plastic bag, it had 3 pairs of silver earrings, and one pair had turquoise stones, the bag for under $ 5, now that was a find! But they don’t have jewelry like that anymore.
Their clothes suck too. Mostly really ugly stuff from the 80’s, and a whole bunch of bright and obviously outdated skiing wear. And most of the knit sweaters are shrunken into little toddler sizes. I don’t know if it is the Salvation army washing them incorrectly, or if it is donated to them in that condition, but what a shame! And they still for some reason place those sweaters in the women’s section, just stick them in the baby section!!, unless they are hoping a ton of little women are going to be stopping by looking for tiny sweaters. But considering the selection, I think they over price their items.