As a freshman and a thrifting connoisseur, I knew as soon as I came to Athens that I would have to check out the thrifting scene. Where I’m from, we have little options besides Goodwills and City Missions around, so I was excited to see what unique shops I would find here. I actually work at my Goodwill back home, so I feel like I know a thing or two from sorting through donations and checking customers out.
However, I’ve only been to each of these locations once so far, so here’s a fair warning that thrift stores can be very hit or miss depending on the place. Also, these stores are ranked in the order I visited them in, not from best to worst or worst to best. Without further ado, here’s my list of a few thrift stores I’ve visited so far in the Athens area!
1. Uptown Costumes
Location: S Court Street, near CVS
Uniqueness: 8/10
Prices: Moderate
Environment: 7/10
Uptown Costumes was the first thrift store I visited in Athens. Many know the shop as simply “Poster Sale” because of the sign that always hangs from the entryway. I didn’t actually know the name of the store until I did some research for this article. While it’s true that the store sells a myriad of posters and costumes, there is an upstairs thrift store that offers some pretty unique items. They had every category of graphic T-shirt as well as hunting gear, polo shirts, sweaters, vintage button-ups, and so much more. Their collection boasted tons of accessories too, including shoes, ties, gloves, and hats. The prices vary on the item, but I would say it was in the moderate range. Some of the vintage items were up-priced, so there was a pretty wide range of prices. I would say the average cost is probably around $10-15 for most things, though. The actual environment is pretty squished upstairs, especially if it’s busy. Some of the aisles are one-way and there’s clothes packed in tight in every nook and cranny, whether it be on racks or stuffed into labeled plastic totes underneath. There are two dressing rooms, which is always appreciated in a thrift store. Overall, it’s a very quirky store that I look forward to visiting again.
2. UpCycle Ohio
Location: W Union Street, ~8 minute drive
Uniqueness: 6/10
Prices: Low/Moderate
Environment: 7/10
UpCycle Ohio is more than just a thrift store; they also have access to a Community Makerspace with rentable tools and access to materials such as sewing machines and welding and woodworking tools. They also provide many opportunities for recycling and volunteer hours. For the sake of this article, however, I’m only going to be focusing on the thrift store section of UpCycle. The store is about an 8-10 minute drive, depending where you’re at on campus. It’s not near any main strips like E State Street, so I’m not sure if any bus routes go nearby, though. The store had an overall pretty welcome feeling and had multiple different sections to it. There were clothes, shoes, purses, and other items along the back wall. Closer to the front were many small bookcases filled with children’s books, magazines, records, and other media. There was also a glass case near the front with valuable items such as jewelry inside. I think most of the clothes were around $4-5 if I’m remembering correctly. They had a dressing room/bathroom that had a full body mirror and seemed pretty clean. A bonus of this thrift store is that they do a lot of fun, unique events. I follow their Instagram, and they always have some interesting event going on. Some past examples include filling a bag for $5, Spirit Weeks for discounts, and monthly calendars with week-long sales.
3. Goodwill
Location: Columbus Road, ~10 minute drive
Uniqueness: 7/10
Prices: Low/Moderate
Environment: 6/10
I’ve heard that the Goodwill in this area is notorious for always being gutted by college students, but I disagree. Maybe it’s because I went pretty early in the year, but I was able to find some pretty unique and interesting things. I didn’t expect to be in the store for that long, but my friend and I wandered around, sifting through the aisles for over an hour. They had a pretty wide variety of clothing styles and sizes. The hard line items weren’t typically special at the time, but I generally tend to care more about thrifting clothing. The prices of shirts were around $5 for adult clothing; which is similar to my Goodwill back home. The one thing I disliked was that they had no dressing rooms. They did have a lot of full-length mirrors hung up everywhere, but we ended up having to try on what we could over top of our shirts. It was just inconvenient for me because I try on everything I buy at thrift stores. Sometimes you notice a stain, or it’s an uncomfortable texture, or things just don’t fit how you expected them to. This brought down my ranking of the environment a decent amount, but otherwise the staff was kind and the store felt pretty clean compared to other thrift stores I’ve been in.
4. Athens Underground
Location: N Court Street, across from Courtside Pizza
Uniqueness: 8/10
Prices: High
Environment: 9/10
One of the more expensive thrift stores on this list, Athens Underground is a true vintage shop. I will admit that it took me a minute to find the actual store though. It’s easy to miss since it is at the very end of the main Court Street stretch and the store is literally underground. Once you descend down the steps, you’re greeted by a small lobby area with doors and a large collection of National Geographic issues and a sale rack. The inside is so interesting and genuinely a fun store to wander around in. Everything felt so organized and the store has a very whimsy feel to it. The prices vary, but I picked up a sweater that was around $20 and immediately put it back. I think some of the regular long sleeve shirts were around $10, though. There were changing rooms, which was nice. If you’re looking for interesting, quality vintage clothing, this is the perfect place. However, if you’re looking for affordable thrifting, I’d suggest going to some of the other thrift stores in the area. The store has more than clothes, though. They have so many historic books, vintage records, postcards, jewelry, and more. I highly encourage a visit, but once again, don’t expect to take home a huge haul for cheap.
5. Peddler’s Junction
Location: E State Street, ~9 minute drive
Uniqueness: 10/10
Prices: Moderate/High
Environment: 6/10
Peddler’s Junction is more of a vendor space, but they had a lot of thrifted clothing booths. It’s indoor inside of a mall. If you’re looking to explore the whole area, I recommend eating a big meal beforehand because I was in there for over an hour and I was starving after! In terms of prices, it really varies by booth. For the clothes, it seemed to be pretty consistent, though. I spotted a grandma-style crewneck, but it was $20. I also found a The Mountain animal t-shirt that was priced at $30. Their collection of clothing was definitely unique, but some of the prices were on the higher end for thrifted pieces. As for jewelry, I bought 2 pairs of earrings, both under a dollar. This is why I have the prices rated as moderate/high: there’s a lot of variation. The store didn’t have much organization, but I’m assuming that’s due to the many vendor stations set up randomly. Overall, it was a interesting place to look around, but I don’t know if I would venture back soon. It seemed like a lot of booths didn’t get updated very often from the look of them, but I could be wrong. I recommend checking it out, but be prepared for a huge area to sift through.
6. Little Wing Curiosity Shoppe and Thrift Store
Location: E State Street, ~9 minute drive, behind the IHOP
Uniqueness: 7/10
Prices: Low/Moderate
Environment: 8/10
Similar to Athens Underground, Little Wing is a bit of a hidden gem. I ended up stopping here after my visit to Peddler’s Junction because it’s located just behind the mall. My friends and I were a little confused because Google Maps was telling us it was right in front of us, but all we saw was IHOP. Upon looking at the website, we found that we just had to pull around the back of the mall. As soon as we entered, we were warmly greeted. All of the staff was so kind and personable, which made the trip even more enjoyable. We were informed of the sales and what all of the sticker and tag colors meant.There was a ton of variety, and the store was well organized. They had a “clothing room” where all of the racks of clothing were located. The clothing seemed pretty fairly priced, although I didn’t end up buying anything. My friend picked out a pair of vintage Eddie Bauer jeans for $10, which I thought was a pretty fair price for quality, vintage jeans. I’m not sure about changing rooms, but I know they had a very clean bathroom that we used as one. Similar to UpCycle Thrift, this store also has a good cause behind it. They work diligently to donate items to Ukraine victims and more recently, hurricane victims. They have a donation needs list and more information about their work on their website if you’re interested in helping their cause! I highly recommend visiting this hidden gem if you can.
7. New-To-You Thrift Shoppe
Location: Columbus Road, ~10 minute drive
Uniqueness: 6/10
Prices: Low
Environment: 6/10
Upon entering, this store is on the smaller side. It was not the cleanest thrift store I’ve ever been in, but it wasn’t horrible. They had a decent variety of clothing, but there was around 1-2 short racks for each size. The men’s section was especially lacking. My friend and I thought we had missed a rack, but the selection wasn’t very big. They had furniture, bags, jewelry, crafting supplies, books, and more. I don’t think they had a changing room, but they did have a bathroom. The bathroom was pretty clean, but there was nowhere really to hang the clothes as I tried them on. They did have a full-length mirror, which I appreciated. The best part about this store was that the low price of the clothes had me shocked. When I went up to pay with 4 long sleeves and a book and the cashier read out $3.90 as the full price, I thought he made a mistake. The staff seemed amused by how surprised my friend and I were, but they informed us that there was a sale going on. We did not seen any signs around and weren’t previously told, but it was still a nice surprise. Even though there was a sale, I believe most of the shirts were priced at around $3-4. This shop is basically right down the road and across from Goodwill, so I would definitely recommend stopping at both in one trip for a great haul if that’s what you’re after.