The Salvation Army Family Store

Good deals at the thrift store but was pretty dirty and they’re was no café! The clothes were
Very old style, poor shoe collection and really bad broken toys. Newer looking brand name clothes at Goodwill thrift store in Tigard.

I use trimet to commute and carry a small backpack with me most places I go. When I tried to enter the store and someone stopped my wife and I because of my backpack. Most business who don’t allow bags check them right? No. Their policy is for customers to leave their bags unsecured by the front door. They may as well have me throw it in a pile that says ‘free take one.’ I won’t be returning to this location and suggest that they reconsider their policy or offer an option to check bags.

I just left a bad review for another Salvation Army and thought I’d even it out with an okay review for this store. These people are always friendly and kind to me and I’ve bought a lot of stuff from them. Sometimes the stuff is great, more often it is mediocre. But I never get stressed out here and feel welcome.
Edit: Came here again and was told I couldn’t bring in a bag. Ack. They didn’t even offer to check it, they seemed to think I could store it in my nonexistent car. I just spent $ 70.00 at goodwill knowing I could’ve bought the furniture at SA. I just didn’t want to argue with a store clerk about my federal rights for disabilities accommodation. Nah – I don’t have to leave my bag outside, but I’m not gonna argue with the store. I’m gonna leave and never come back and spend my money elsewhere so I don’t have to have the headache. I’m pretty pissed at SA and they’re now on my blacklist of places that are not accommodating to my disability.

This place was a total crap hole. The front doors weren’t working (the sliding kind) so customers were standing there all awkward because the employees were too lazy to put up a sign to inform the customers to creep in through the emergency exit instead.
So after finding my way into this place, a few things went through my head:
1) Holy crap why is everything so expensive???
2) Is everything in here from 1980?!
3) Do people work here?
4) Why is NOTHING sized? Everything was in the wrong place and crap was all over the floor. No thanks.
5) Must. Find. Exit. Immediately. Abort. Mission.
I will never turn my back on Goodwill if this is the only alternative… I can normally find one or two gems in every thrift store trip I take but I could not find a single thing here and that’s really saying something.

Have been shopping the Salvation Army store on SE 82^nd in Portland for many, many years. Have recently noticed some major problems at the store — not enough cashiers — especially on Wednesday’s ½ price day — have stood in line for at least ½ hour or more — usually only 3 cashiers are at the registers.
I purchase lots of books — both hardbound and softbound, but have noticed the store and/​or intake from donations, is marking the top (where the pages are in between the covers). Hate to say, but I will be going elsewhere as I give the books as presents to people and who wants a marked up book? People want a book in good condition — not marked up. Plus I’m finding a lot more books that are in very bad condition and would never consider purchasing — ripped off front covers, chewed edges, missing back covers, torn pages, missing spines (especially in children’s books). No child wants to have a book in bad condition.

I hunt for vintage things but lately don’t find them. I had a feeling that the good stuff are being filtered at the warehouse or at the receiving. The last good find I had (in 2013) was a new in box Vietnam War era portable stove on half price Wednesday for $ 2.50!
Pretty much all Salvation Army stores in SE Portland JACKED THEIR PRICES UP!
The top guy of S.A. makes 6 figures a year, sounds like he just bought a 60 foot yacht this year.
And pass the «SAVINGS» on to us…

The store is quite large and has a lot of stuff, just not much of what I’m looking for. I find most of it overpriced for it being free stuff given to a non-​profit organization, although I suppose they have to stay competitive with all the hipsters coming in drones.
I once bought a couch here, but then later realized when I got home that it wouldn’t fit. I hadn’t even picked up the furniture yet and had decided I would just return it for in store credit. I can’t believe how awkward and uncomfortable the manager made me feel for wanting to return a couch I hadn’t yet even taken from their store. It’s not like I wanted my money back. I don’t make a habit of stealing from non profits.
They do have a café there, which I hardly ever see anyone running as well as restrooms.
It’s worth it for an occasional dig, but I prefer other thrift stores. I guess it’s too much to expect anyone working at a thrift store to be nice or happy.

The store is big and spacious! But a little OVERPRICED! On the nicer things. But what really caught my attention was the café inside. Its a nice quiet place to chill while u sip on some hot choco. Or coffee and read the newspaper real quik. And most of the employees are real nice too.

I don’t know why there’s so many negative reviews for this place. It is my favorite thrift store in town. It’s huge and they always have an amazing selection of vintage finds in good clean condition. Everyone seems to be complaining about the prices, but I’m not sure that they’re really looking through the whole store. True there is a section right where you walk in of collectibles that often times have high prices, but the rest of the store is pretty darn cheap! I picked up a bunch of kitchen stuff there yesterday for CHEAP! A set of vintage Tupperware measuring cups in perfect condition for 99 cents, a set of vintage glass banana split bowls $ 1.99, a vintage Anchor Hocking jar with the lid (I bought a set of these as a Christmas gift for my roommate last year and paid $ 10 ea. for them on eBay) only $ 2.99! I can’t remember everything I bought but every item was less than $ 3. The employees there are always out cleaning or stocking shelves and they always say hi to me or ask if I need help. This is an awesome store.

At first glance this place seemed nice, organized and hardly another shopper there but I soon realized why — their prices are insane.

My review only applies to the café. Ordered a soup and sandwich combo. Not expecting anything fancy. Soup seemed very obviously straight out of a can. Okay, I can deal with that. It is just a Salvation Army café for convenience. Here is the true bad part, my grilled cheese sandwhich arrived and was served. It came with a large clump of accumulated dust and dirt. I asked for all my money back as after one look at that I couldn’t even eat another bit of the soup. They actually refused to refund me and I had to take it to management and it was still ten minutes before they decided I actually did deserve my money back. Really? Unacceptable. I’ll stick to Nordstrom’s next time!

I have read some of the other reviews, which could have colored this review. I might let this information, and additional information, seep in and which might, in fact, color my view going forward. From what I was able to glean, this outfit is not as padded in top brass high salaries as are some of the others. To that end, I know there are websites which rank charities by how well they hold down their administrative and overhead costs. I wanted to give these items to St. Vincent de Paul in the area, but they have changed over from being «all purpose» to more of a food bank. Their store on SE 52^nd closed about 10 years ago. That’s too bad.
I came to the Salvation Army in SE Portland (it’s not technically in Happy Valley’s city limits) to donate, and have made several trips. I have not shopped here. However, before posting the review, I became curious and, after the donation drop-​off, walked around the store to familiarize myself with it. Needless to say, the designated pull-​in and pull-​out driveway with a canopy (think rain) for donations is a great feature.
I think it’s great that such a store exists for those who want or need a thrift store, and this area of SE 82^nd has several of them. The store is spacious, airy, bright, and even has a café’. I attempt to be thrifty in other ways, by shopping for clothing at outlets and the Nordstrom Rack, and by looking for coupons or specials for groceries, fast food, haircuts, and auto service, but I did see some decent household items and other things in here.
While I am sorry that some poor or homeless people come in here looking for assistance and leave empty handed, the protocol is probably that there are ways the Salvation Army in turn makes this assistance available to those who need it. They should readily have a flyer or contact information for people who come in looking for assistance, even though this is a retail store. All of these outfits have to be somewhat careful because the inflow of goods and donations versus the outflows and how cost effective they are is monitored. Remember, transparency is the new buzz word.
In closing, I like that they can get someone’s trinkets, towels, apparel, and more, sell them without an associated purchase price, and funnel that money to the less fortunate.

You would think a mega store like this would put more effort into things… Any (which were few) piece of clothing I pulled out had a stain or something gross crusted on and the price was far too high. Almost everything is super outdated and in bad condition. I am an avid thrifter and am not afraid of getting down and dirty for the right items, but my goodness… there was nothing worth the trouble there — and I gave the place a lot of time and scouring with each visit and have found no reason to ever go back.
Save the time and frustration and go to D.I. or the Goodwill in the area.

WOW! I haven’t had this much fun in a thrift store since my Momma was alive! We literally spent hours and went back twice in one day!
We lucked out to come in on a half price day (I believe every friday and sat), and I got dozens of canvases for so much less then I could have gotten new, and art books on top of it!
The employes are incredibly helpful and nice also… after a sample of coffee … I said I had to buy one of those and. she actually ran over to make it for me herself! The cashiers are real nice and held large canvases up front for me with my name on them. :)
I had a great time and found many great deals to help inspire more art!
I will be back!

Nice big beautiful store. While I was there today they had rented a Genie lift and it was puttering around the store replacing the light bulbs. However it made this annoying BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP the entire time I was there. Couldn’t they do this when the store is closed?

I would give this store 5 stars if they treated their employees better. I’ve heard the managers yell at employees in front of customers for extremely petty things. I don’t understand why the managers are so unprofessional; how they still even have their jobs when they should be taking those employees in the office to yell at them. The stores now sell coffee that is utter garbage; it seems like making money off of the coffee products is all they care about. Its really odd. The managers only care about making a profit. I’ve witnessed homeless people coming in cold and hungry; the managers rudely push these homeless people out of the store. They don’t give them any information regarding shelters or food kitchens.
When this store puts new clothes on the racks, then shuffles the old clothes out, what it does with the old clothes is disturbing. I used to think that they gave the old clothes away to homeless and less fortunate people, but they don’t; they sell the items in bulk by the pound to China; who then recycles it and sells it back to North Americans.
This company is not doing the most good for people; it does the most profit for their higher ups people that get paid by commission. That is why the prices of donated items keep going up; they want more money and are being greedier. This is a fake Christian company; that says their non-​profit.

Their prices are expensive if you don’t go on Wednesday, their half-​price day. Furniture and home items are on the spendy side. However, everyday clothes prices are still more reasonable than other big name thrift shops. I just purchased four clothing items (two shorts, a swimsuit bottom, and a shirt) for around $ 8 on a half-​price day. If you are going on a Wednesday, get there right when they open — the place will be packed! A cashier told me that people start lining up to get in even before the store is open. What I do like is their organization. They are much cleaner and well laid out than other places. If you are looking for something, check here first before buying it new, but be sure to check the price to make sure it’s a deal.

I used to love this Salvation Army, but in the last few months their prices have jumped way, way up. I’ve seen housewares there that SA is selling for almost twice as much as the Walmart tag that is still on the item– and these are things that are not vintage, limited edition, or collectible in any way. (This is on a street full of big box stores and discount retailers, as well as other thrift stores. If you have to spend 20 bucks on a basic saucepan, might as well get one that hasn’t been scratched and burned.)
Oddly enough, the prices in the «vintage» section haven’t changed as much. There are still some deals if you’re looking for old china or designer vases.
Changing from a color-​tag sale to a one day a week half-​off sale means that anyone who can’t make it that day might as well not shop there. Maybe the higher prices give them some tax advantage when they get rid of unsold items, maybe everything is (to quote a previous reviewer) marked up to mark down, maybe they are just trying to make the rent on that nice spacious building. Either way, it’s too bad, but fortunately, they have lots of competition.

I love this particular Salvation Army store. We came here on one Sunday and they had 50% off event for the entire store except for Gold & Silver merchandise. We thought the sale was only for regular items (clothing, pots&pans, knick knacks, furniture, etc) but actually it also applied to their Collectible items.
They have many old collectible items in very good conditions. I purchased one old wood sign for $ 3.50 instead of the regular $ 7 price tag. I also got one pair of jeans and one cardigan. My total bill came to $ 10.00. What a bargain. We will come here again and again and again especially when they have their 50% off sale events. Such a good bargain.

this place is cool. overpriced, but if you catch it on a 50% off day, it’s not bad.
the good: i got three zipper hoodies for $ 10 (on a 50% off day). the food court was nice (didn’t eat but took a picture!), bathrooms were nice and clean. i like that this used to be a linens and things or bb&b. you can tell. it’s still a clean, nice building. it’s laid out in the round, which is unusual for a thrift store. there’s a main thoroughfare that’s circular and the departments have their own walkways.
bad: they don’t do returns. when it’s 50% off, the place is packed and there aren’t enough sales associates. when an item isn’t marked, they won’t sell it. i think that’s dumb. getting in and out of the parking lot (next to walmart at Johnson Creek) is a clusterf^&*.
not worth the trip but if you happen to be driving by and it’s 50% off, go inside! there are bargains to be had!