Southern Thrift Store

Lots of junk, would have to spend quite a while sorting through it all. Lots of outdated business casual stuff.

Not fantastic, but decent. Tons of clothing, and a good price if it’s a half-​off day. Found some good used china porcelain pieces for personality on my display shelves. Fair prices, decent service, and conveniently close to other thrift shops.

I have been here a few times and it is definitely one of my must stops when I am trying to complete my collection. If I am on Charlotte Pike, this and Goodwill are the only places I always find things.
There is a lot of things to see everywhere. The main floor has women’s and children’s clothing/​shoes as well as some art at the back of the store and a small housewares section closer to the back. They have a lot of housewares on the clothing racks, so be sure to look there if that is what you came for. There is a sign that states downstairs there is men’s clothing, furniture, electronics, music, and books, but I haven’t had a reason to venture down there.
The prices seem really high for what it is. But of course when the tag of what you are looking at is half off that day, it isn’t bad. Today there were 5 colors that were half off. I was looking at something that I didn’t need and it was overpriced and not half off, so I left it. I did get something that was half off and a heck of a good deal with the half off.
Parking seems to be an issue here sometimes. There is parking on Charlotte, a lot on the side of the building, and a parking structure behind the store. Sometimes when people have issues parking (and there are a lot of people with parking issues) it backs everything up and I am not patient. At all. And as it is a thrift store on Charlotte it is a mixed bag of characters.

I already wrote a review for the Southern Thrift on Gallatin Pike, so this review will be similar. If you’re looking for true thrift store prices (not inflated «flea market/​antique mall» prices), Southern Thrift is the place to go. Like most thrift stores, it’s not bright and shiny, but it wasn’t gross either (what do you expect when you’re looking for housewares for $ 1 or less?). This store does seem a little more cramped than the one on Gallatin Pike, so if you want a little more room to look, head there.

I prefer the east location. I didn’t find much of anything in here. I’m not saying there isn’t a chance there could be something worth finding, I just didn’t. The employees were nice and it’s simple enough to park and get to. Very few furniture options, but lots of cloths and shoes.

Recently visited this location for the first time. I was looking for something in particular (certain style shirt). The selection is great, lots of name brands women clothing – Ann Taylor, Loft, LL Bean, Banana, and Gap. Of course it could change. I gave this location 3 stars for two reasons: (1) the employees weren’t super friendly (weren’t very courteous with the clothing carts they were using to put clothes out) and (2) their clothing seemed to be priced with a bias for brand. For example: Goodwill has dresses for $ 7.99 and t-​shirts for $ 2.79. Dress, shirt and jean prices at Southern Thrift Store varied and it seemed to be based on brand (target dress for $ 5 and Banana Republic dress for $ 20). I’ll definitely visit again in the future, but was disappointed with the lack of pricing structure.

I know I already gave Southern Thrift a one star review, but I was in desperate need of a dress for a family Memorial Day cookout and stopped in, hoping to find something.
Luckily, I did. Beautiful dress, right size. As soon as my hand was on the hanger, the announcement system announced they would be closing in five minutes.
So I walked to the counter and asked what the return policy was. I was told there were no returns. I asked then where the changing rooms were. The guy behind the register showed me where they were. I started to walk away when a manager walked up.
«Sorry ma’am, there isn’t enough time. We close in five minutes and our registers automatically shut down at close. Nothing we can do about it.»
… I turned to the guy behind the counter who shrugged. «Would you like to purchase it?» he asked.
Are you kidding? First of all, if your going to lie to a customer (obviously so) about your late 90’s version of cash registers «automatically» shutting down on the hour (what happens if at 9:00 there’s still two more people in line?) at LEAST collaborate with your staff so you are all telling the same lie!
I handed the dress to the cashier and said, «Forget it; I’ll take my money somewhere else.» He did look apologetic.
I was venting to a friend of a friend who worked at Southern Thrift a couple of years ago and talking about how I was contemplating calling upper management. She laughed at me and said, «L [the guy in charge] will back up the same lie and won’t do a thing. They don’t care about the customer. Just don’t shop there.»
Good advice. Wish I had listened to my gut last time I came in here.

This store doesn’t treat people very well. I came in with a small small bag on my back, smaller than most women’s purses. There is a policy to check bags up front but this had my netbook in it and there’s client data there — no way i’m leaving it with the Thrift Store. While other people’s LARGER purses were not checked, they demanded I leave it at the counter, and when I refused they asked me to open my netbook case, show them the netbook, and then show it again on my way out. Again considering the netbook case was much smaller than many women’s purses who were allowed to go unchecked and had MUCH MORE room to stuff things, I have a feeling they were after my Netbook but I can’t prove that. Whatever the case I was very mistreated and advised them of that. Since the bag was smaller than many women’s purses, the whole «we need your bag» doesn’t checkout — at all. I am very weary of this store and received no apology, probably because it wasn’t about my bag, it was about getting their hands on my computer. But I can’t prove that. Just be careful with what you bring into that store esp if you’re shopping at the other stores within walking distance.

Just okay. I was slightly disappointed after reading good reviews about all the great treasures. Most items were in the late 90’s-eques era and there were not many furniture items to choose from. Perhaps I came on an off day?
On the plus side, the store was very well organized and parking was easy.

Hands down one of the best thrift stores in Nashville. Somehow this place has wacky cool clothes and décor items– probably because it is located near the Sylvan Park area and lots of cool, funky people drop off there slightly used goods! I moved from Nashville 2 years ago and my new city doesn’t boast such lovely pre-​loved goods…

I usually go to 2 other Southern Thrifts on the East side of town. This one is a lot alike for the most part… same variety. The building is kind of a shotgun building… meaning long and narrow. It’s not as open-​feeling as the other stores and feels slightly cramped with all the stuff inside. Southern Thrift likes to use the spaces on top of their clothing racks to house things like housewares, etc.
They have a great book selection. Seem to have a good amount of mens clothes. Not much furniture here if that’s what you’re looking for. Best for clothes. Clothes are sized on the rack and pretty well marked.

High quality used clothes for cheap: check. interesting blazer selection: check. Crockery and corningware ever-​present for, like, a buck: check. Interesting tchotchkes: double check.
You have to be willing to sort through the crap, but if you are patient, you will find good stuff here. I like it better than schmancy thrift stores, because Southern Thrift has no illusions about its role in the world, unlike other stores that charge an arm and a leg for used clothes. Here, expect to pay under 5 bucks for good dress shirts and under ten for blazers.

Every time I go to Southern Thrift Store I hope to find something amazing, and usually I do, that is, something that would have been amazing in 1982. I don’t think you’re going to find any hipster retro gear at southern thrift but you might come across something that makes you reminisce on the days when you wore neon colored warm up suits. However, for those actually thrift store shopping (not just antiquing) the place has a good variety of men’s and women’s clothes along with a whole lot of random stuff. That random stuff includes: baskets, vases, house decorations, frames, pillows, shoes, toys, old and random sports gear, little kids bikes, and of course, and NSync CD.

Southern Thrift is an overwhelmingly large thrift store — too much for me to look through everything in one trip. All of the furniture is at the front of the store, and included some tables, chairs and sofas ($ 30-​$ 130) of varying attractiveness. Some of these items were missing knobs or wearing through (and were priced accordingly), while others actually looked presentable.
They also have the usual thrift store hodgepodge of framed prints, plates, cups, toys, books, and random junk. But to the right of the register you can find some kitchen appliances, phones, keyboards, and mouses, that might be useful. Of all the thrift stores on Charlotte Pike, Southern Thrift came closest to meeting my expectations: a big no-​frills store lit by fluorescent lights, with few treasures and a bunch of stuff that nobody wants, all at very low prices.
Tip: The «vintage» rack to the front left of the women’s clothing section has a much better treasure to trash ratio than the rest of the clothing racks.

Southern Thrift is usually the highlight of my thrift trips down Charlotte. They’re large enough to fit a lot of variety of everything from clothes to toys to housewares and furniture. I’ve found some real gems here including an elephant-​shaped tea pot, a Kurt Cameron in a leather jacket poster, and amazing vintage lingerie.
LIttle treats and surprises are tucked everywhere in this store so come ready for diligent browsing. Like Goodwill and others they always have some color of tag that is on sale so make sure to look for that too.
Unfortunately, they discontinued the practice of bagging all their old costume jewelry as opposed to selling it individually. You would try to peer through the $ 7 bags for possible treasures. I’ve found some great stuff in those (usually mixed in with a bunch of junk, but that’s the fun).

I’m not much for wearing used clothing, so I don’t really shop here for clothes. I’ve tried looking but I just never seem to see something cool. I have found some great things for costume parties here though.
What I really like about Southern Thrift though is the first part of the store. Here they house the furniture and small appliances. There are some really great deals on kitchen gadgets. I found a sandwich maker, which is still going strong, for $ 3 and an espresso machine, also $ 3.
You have to go in often to find good furniture, but they often have couches and chairs that are not horribly ugly for decent prices. Also, check out the electronics: monitors, keyboards, speakers, cables — all at cheap cheap prices.

Until recently, I thought the only Southern Thrift was the one on Gallatin. When I discovered they have a branch on Charlotte, I decided I had to check it out. While this one is pretty similar to the one in East Nashville, it’s much, much larger. It’s practically the size of a K-​Mart, and their selection is virtually endless.
Southern Thrift has pretty extensive men’s, women’s and children’s departments, and, while I’m sure there are some real treasures in there somewhere, the prospect of looking through the entire men’s selection seemed a bit daunting. They sell ancient computers and televisions all for less than $ 100, and their toy and electronic selections were surprisingly large.
Much like the East Side branch, this Southern Thrift seems to specialize in the bizarre. They have several model ships, ceramic puppies and one of the coolest velvet paintings I’ve ever seen (it’s some sort of jungle cat, but it unfortunately cost $ 40, so I passed). There is a huge collection of sofas at the front of the store, each of which costs about $ 50. If I wanted to buy a very cheap (and wonderfully tacky) living room set, I’m certain this would be the place.
The sales counter in the middle of the store (like the one on Gallatin) is strangely very tall. As you check out, the person ringing you up towers about four feet over you. The parking situation is also a bit strange, and when you leave their lot, you’ll find you have to pass through a garage/​tunnel/​cove that puts you out on a one-​way alley behind the store. Regardless, Southern Thrift is a deserving addition to my list of crazy thrift stores to peruse.