A New Addiction: the Goodwill Outlet!

On Memorial Day, my mother, sister, & I headed out to do some serious thrifting. We'd never been to a Saver's before, so we went to one about 20 minutes away from home.

I came away with a few fun finds, but more importantly, with the knowledge that a famed Goodwill Outlet had opened up in Kansas City!!! You see, the Saver's had a Goodwill conveniently located across the street, and when we popped in there I noticed flyers announcing the new store. Score!

For those that don't know, at the Outlet items are priced by the pound (save for electronics and furniture. And at our store, the prices on those items are reduced by 50% everyday, meaning you can often get huge bookshelves for just $0.25! Woah!) Glassware is $0.49/pound, while everything else is $0.79/lb. All the items are placed in bins (loosely sorted/categorized--some are mostly clothes, one is all glass, and others are just a random hodge podge) that are rotated hourly. People do tend to get crazy after the rotations--sprinting toward the new bins and pulling stuff out of them like there's no tomorrow, wielding shopping carts like shields to keep you out of the aisle!

Now, all I know about Goodwill Outlets has been learned via blogs like Chelsea's and Rae's. Many people warned that Outlet finds, while fabulous, also tend to be super dirty or even WET! (Ew). So  Megan, Brandon (her hubs), and I all wore fashionable rubber gloves on our maiden voyage.

We arrived right at 9 AM (the store's opening) to a short line. I almost expected people to break out in a run when the doors opened (blogs also warn of over-eager, pushy shoppers), but everyone was fairly-mild mannered. And once we started digging in the bins, we quickly realized that our gloves were not needed--everything seemed fairly clean! Phew!


We gravitated toward the glassware, books, and electronics on our first trip (and most thereafter), but of course we scope out every bin to see if there are any treasures to be had! 

Bahaha, I can't get over my brother-in-law's face in the picture above. He's a great Outlet hunter, though!

So far, we've had lots of luck on our four trips. Here are some of my favorite finds I've brought home.

This rusty guy is a vintage aluminum foil holder! I spied one on a blog some time ago, fell in love, forgot about it, and remembered that love when I hit up the Outlet!

I couldn't resist these fun papergoods. The Christmas Album is filled with classic songs--I plan on framing my favorites and the cover for some fun holiday art! I also loved the two recipe books--the meat one will probably be out as kitchen decor year round, while the turkey one will be great for Thanksgiving!

I love the vintage books--one's a typewriting textbook and the other is a kid's dictionary (For Boys and Girls!) The cards appear to be a piano practice tracking card--the kid or parents wrote how much they practiced, and the piano teacher verified it? I just loved how they looked--such pretty handwriting!

I also grabbed 2 large atlases to craft with! I want to make one of those ubiquitous map heart art projects. And maps would make great bunting, no?

Lastly, when digging through the glassware bins I scored some of the older style Pyrex refrigerator dish  lids. Of course, they didn't have the dishes to match, and they aren't a full set, but I scooped them up nonetheless! I also found a casserole lid, which is good to have on hand since I buy lidless Pyrex if I love the pattern enough!

Ryan has even found some great deals--a pair of new roller blades (exactly his size, and the same brand he skated in when he played hockey!), some flood lights, and a travel DVD player (he plans to take out the screen to use in some project). The other day he even remarked "We need to go to the Outlet more!" Good thing he supports it, because I made a silly pronouncement that I want to go to the Outlet at least 30 times before we head back to Missoula, and so far we have gone every week (and sometimes twice), so maybe that will actually come true! (Technically we always go during a rotation--so it's almost like going twice since I see new items!)

Have you ever had an Outlet experience? Do share!