I love buying secondhand pieces, so I knew when I moved to a new town, I needed to explore the local thrift stores. This year I’ll be traveling to the thrift stores near Kutztown University to find the best one. I’ll be judging them based on inventory, pricing, organization, and dressing rooms.
My first stop on this journey was Once Again Thrift Store.
This week I explored Community Aid. This particular Community Aid is technically in Temple, PA, not Kutztown, but it’s only an eighteen minute drive from KU.
Inventory
No complaints about the inventory here. This is a large thrift store with tons of clothing. This is a must-stop for clothing, but there aren’t as many housewares. If you’re looking for furniture or home decor, you’d be better off looking elsewhere.
Pricing
Again—no complaints. I found the prices to be reasonable and consistent. Most things cost between $6 and $10.
Community Aid has a weekly $1 sale where one color of tag is reduced to $1. Additionally, there are rotating sales based on the day of the week.
Fellow university students—if you’re looking for the best deals, visit on a Wednesday or Thursday. Wednesday is Family Day, and everyone gets 50% off their purchases. Thursday is a good day for college students to visit too. Thursdays are Education Appreciation Days and all students, educators, and school employees get 50% off their purchases when they show their school ID.
Organization
The aisles were spacious with signs at the end of each rack to label the inventory. The clothes were organized by size. It was easy to locate the clothing styles and sizes.
Dressing Rooms
The dressing rooms were spacious and plentiful. Community Aid has eight regular dressing rooms and two handicap-accessible dressing rooms. Each dressing room is equipped with hooks to hang clothing on, a bench to set belongings, and a full-length mirror. When I visited this store, there was no line for the dressing rooms.
Overall Rankings
- Inventory: 9/10
Points dropped for lack of housewares.
- Pricing: 10/10
Reasonable pricing, with a weekly 50% off sale for every shopper.
- Organization: 10/10
Easy to navigate and a clean, bright storefront.
- Dressing rooms: 10/10
Ample dressing rooms with ample space.