Here's what was good about Good Stuff: The store is tidy and the clothes are fairly well-organized. The prices felt high to me, but I seldom set foot in the higher-end stores where many of this store's items originally started out. So I might not be the best judge of their prices.
They were running a special that day: 50 percent off all items with an orange tag. I tried on a navy, somewhat flattering LL Bean jacket that had an orange tag, which brought it down from $7 to $3.50. I resisted. I need to always resist LL Bean because I'm a middle-aged white lady with preppy roots. Preppy LL Bean clothes always reinforce my inner fuddy-duddy.
The store had some lovely high-end women's wear. This jacket interested me:
It's made out of wool though, and the truth is that in our mild Northern California climate, it's too warm for wool most of the year.
Anyway, Good Stuff is a perfectly lovely thrift store that raises funds for a worthy cause: Contra Costa ARC, a local non-profit organization that serves disabled children and adults. The challenge for Good Stuff and other small thrift stores is that they simply do not have much inventory. There were a few baby items, but no children's clothes. I purchase about 75 percent of my kids' clothes at thrift stores, so it is hard for me to get excited about a store with no kids' clothes.
I often wonder if Thrifttown, and other Super-Thrift Stores like it, have ruined small, volunteer-run thrift stores. The prices are better and the selection is better at Thrifttown, that is the bottom line. But Good Stuff was certainly not empty at the non-peak hour of 1pm on a Tuesday when I visited.
I do not have any answers, but I remain fascinated by the business of Thrift. I will see what I can find out and share it here.
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