The Salvation Army

Okay, set your expectations on low and you’ll be fine. This is a big, busy store and so it can get a bit chaotic but take a breath and relax. They always seem to be having some kind of sale and I don’t know how many times I’ve purchased name brand clothes for less than $ 5. Last year I purchased a Hugo Boss suit for Halloween, I planned on destroying it but once I tried it on at home, I saw that it was in excellent condition and fit very well… so I had to make another trip back to get ANOTHER suit to destroy, good thing they’re so cheap. The donation area is very convenient when they have the drive-​thru set up, but when it’s set up for park and unload… well, that takes a bit more time.

Love, love, love the staff and the variety of merchandise. I found an Angry Bird Halloween costume for myself and a wood hutch for my guinea pigs. Don’t get me started on all the cool clothes and bric-​à-​brac. It is Sunday today, and it is closed on my day here in da big town of Pasadena (rightly so given its evangelistic mission) so I am a bit bummed that I can’t hit this place. Next time for sure.

I have come out of Unilocal-​writing retirement provide the following public service announcement: There are currently about 20 wedding dresses, of various shapes and sizes, at this Salvation Army! They are all priced differently, but I would say 18 are of a cute, modern style and the others could be altered. There is also a pillbox hat and veil. I also saw several prom and other formal dresses. The shop was clean and well-​organized. Enjoy the dresses!

Extremely helpful and friendly workers!
Made donation drop off easy, was done within a few minutes!

YES! THIS is what I’m TALKING ABOUT! Want a cool thrift store with reasonable prices and lots of stuff? BAM! You got it! Tons of furniture, knick knacks, pottery, art and STUFF. Every time I go to Pasadena I visit this store. In fact, I plan my trips around this place. You just never know what you’re going to find here.
I’ve always done really well at the Salvation Army stores, and this one is no exception. Well worth the trip if you’re headed that way.

The Salvation Army has the best prices in the realm of thrift stores in Pasadena. I’m a regular at this spot, coming in 1 – 3 times a week, and when I come in, they usually a sale of 30−50% off everything.
I’ve been shopping here for 3+ years and have been coming in more often this year, and let me tell you that I personally have not had one bad experience.
The store rarely is overcrowded, but I will say that sometimes it is understaffed, but recently, there have been some new faces working behind the counter and in the inventory room.
I’ve bought a bunch of things from here. I almost always leave with clothes, but I have bought a couple of full-​size mirrors, small mirrors, chairs, fake plants, plates, mugs, glass, sunglasses, shoes, hats, and even a mannequin bust– in pretty decent condition!
This store has a lot of things I want, and although the store is pretty messy in some areas and pretty unorganized a lot of the time (there was a short period of time early Fall 2015 when they separated all the clothing by color and sleeve… I don’t know who was responsible for that, but thanks!), it doesn’t bother me (I’ve gotten accustomed to it, even), and the Salvation Army is definitely the main place where I shop for and purchase clothing.

I drop stuff off and they resell it to help out those who could use a break. I’m all in for that. Stopped dropping stuff at Goodwill since I found out that only 8% of their total revenue generated goes to charity programs. Really Goodwill?

We were terribly disappointed with the Salvation Army’s pickup service. We had a wicker sleeper sofa and matching chair, in very good condition, to donate and the lady who we spoke to on the phone seemed eager to have it. She made the following pickup appointment as shown on the Salvation Army’s web site:
10/​15/​2015 Items: Sleeper Sofa-​1, Chair-​1 ETA Between 12:30 PM And 3:30 PM
When Elio and his young assistant arrived, the former concluded that the sofa was too heavy to carry down the stairs to their truck. Elio stated that he did not want to risk injury to his young volunteer. Of course nobody would wish anyone to be injured, but the real question is why the Salvation Army is sending persons that could be injured when the pickup order clearly shows that the item was a sleeper sofa?
Our experience says that, if you are intending to donate furniture of any significant value (the sofa set originally cost more that $ 5,000), then you should probably select a different charity and not the Salvation Army, because quality furniture tends to be heavy.

This rating is for dropping off donations. We dropped off a truck FULL of items on a VERY hot day. The two gentleman there were very polite and helpful. They unloaded the truck almost by themselves — they would have done it all without help, but we just couldn’t let them in good conscious.

This has to be One of my favorite locations. I like the set up, it makes sense to me. The workers are nice and I’ve never had a bad experience here. I love looking at all of their furniture/​décor goodies! I have bought some amazing pieces here for cheap cheap cheap! As for the clothing, it’s a hit or miss kinda spot. I myself though have been fortunate to of always found something at every visit!

This place literally sucked. The help is very rude. Visited a lot of thrift stores. But definitely not going back to this one.

I was excited to visit this place because it looks pretty huge from the outside. But once I walked in I was pretty let down. The woman behind the register was not very helpful and had a very bad attitude. She looks like she did not want to be working. while they have lots of stock, it wasn’t of very good quality. Another woman working there was laying on the couches texting between ringing people up. The overall vibe in there is down and depressing with no sense of pride in their job. I got out of there after 5 minutes. I recommend the Goodwill on Altadena. Great stuff and a friendly staff.

Don’t throw your items away. Donate here to help those who need it!

This review is for their pickup service and dispatch. I went online, filled out some basic questions and scheduled a pick up. I took the day off and called the morning of to get my delivery time to ensure I would be ready and available for the pickup.
I get a call during my pickup window from dispatch telling me that the drivers couldn’t find parking and left. So instead of calling me to get building gate access or checking to see if maybe I parked in a spot to hold it for them in front of the building, they just left. Dispatch asked me if I wanted to take another day off work next week to see if when the drivers arrive this time they decide the parking is sufficient for them.
There are plenty of other charity organizations that are honest, ethical and have basic professional curtesy. Salvation Army is clearly not one of them — what a disappointment.

This place is really pretty awesome. I have quite a few designer labels and other quality items as well as wonderful vintage furniture that I found here at incredible prices. It’s like treasure hunting there.

Note: This is not a review of the store itself, but rather their pickup service. I recently scheduled an appointment with this branch to have some couches, a bed & some other misc. household items picked up from my location due to a recent move.
After scheduling the initial appointment online, they will send you email confirmation with the ability to modify the items scheduled for pickup and make other useful changes in advance.
While they did eventually come and pick up the items at no cost (and they seem to be the only service in town to do this), it was not before they canceled my initial appointment after holding me up basically all day.
I’m not sure how frequently this occurs, but a word to the wise: make sure you schedule a pickup as far in advance as possible, because there is a very real possibility that you will be the last delivery of the day and their truck will be full before they get to you.

This is for their donation pick-​up service. Unprofessional, unethical and utter disregard for basic decency. I have a couch in good condition that I didn’t want to simply throw away. Was hesitant to call SA after reading the horrible review and utter unprofessionalism regarding their donation pick up. I should’ve heeded to the warnings.
The schedule was relative easy. Went online, filled out some basic question and scheduled a pick up.
I did the online request on Tue. Got a call on Wed to confirm a pick up for Fri btw 1pm –4pm. I then made arrangements, took time off work and waited at home like freaking moron. I called again on Fri morning at 8:30 am and talked to a live rep to confirm the schedule. I was again assured the crew would arrive between 1 and 4 pm. At 1:25 PM, I got call from SA. Caller simply told me, «sorry, we’re busy, and won’t be coming today.»
SA makes you feel as though you ought to grovel at their feet for them to take your donation. They treat this not as good faith donation, but rather as an appointment of their holly benevolent generosity.
There are plenty of other charity organizations that are honest, ethical and have basic professional curtesy. Salvation Arm sure as hell not one of them.

This is solely for their donations pick-​up service. Since I don’t know where their call center is located, I just chose this location.
I’ve always believed in donating to causes, or at the very least, offering it to the less fortunate before throwing it out. In this case, I had a fairly large TV. Instead of dealing with flakes on Craigslist or listing it on Freecycle, I decided to contact non-​profits.
Though SA’s website states they will not accept TV’s in my area, I decided to call them anyways. I was glad to learn they will send a truck out the following day, although it’s at the driver’s discretion. They sent me a confirmation email, and when I logged on the check the status the morning of… it gave me a 3 hour window. And they were punctual, so the TV wasn’t sitting on my porch causing an eyesore w/​my neighbors.
So in short, if you have items you no longer need, and it’s too heavy to drive to one of their stores for a drop-​off, consider calling them and helping a cause.
5 stars for their effort, flexibility and punctuality, and of course… what they do. Way to go SA!

What can I say with all their local television commercials lately, I’ve felt more than inclined to support The Salvation Army.
I stopped in a week or so ago to browse around and picked up a vintage Tommy Traveler briefcase that I’ll take to a luggage repair to price out cleaning up a tad bit.
The store is a bit overwhelming for me but worth taking a peek in every now and again.
I just donated nearly 100 clothing items and about a dozen pair of older running shoes. Drop off was quick and easy and they helped get everything out of the car for me.
I’ll continue to donate to them.

I just bought a Louis XVI chair for $ 14 two weeks ago. They were having a 50% off furniture sale. It was a little sketch cause the chair didn’t have a price on it. When I asked the worker, she called it at $ 28. I asked her where she got the number and she just said «from my head». LOL
Pro:
A LOT of clothes.
Great selection of vintage hardback books (I come here one every month or so to check for new books)
A lot of great furniture.
Cons:
Very messy.
The knick-​knacks they sell are sometimes unusable or broken.
The prices are always subject to change when you get to the register. I once had a cashier say the item was priced wrong and up-​ed the price to over double the marked price. (from $ 1.50 to $ 5). If someone changed the price wouldn’t they want to keep it at $ 1.50, which would mean that the item should’ve been sold for less than the value of 1.50 if the tag had really been switched?
There is no dressing room to try on the clothes.
I come back often but often times leave with nothing in hand. But that’s fine. Sometimes its just amusing to be around memories.