The Salvation Army

Currently shopping here again, why? Because it’s great! Seriously, every Monday it’s almost 50−75% off of everything and it’s not like goodwill where they auction all the good stuff off online, NO here they have everything from Pendleton to 99 cent store finds. Seriously and for the down town hard to find parking, don’t worry about it they have a parking lot! Not to mention they’re super great service! Every time patty or harmony are there they just make it so much more fun to shop because they’re so nice and helpful. Over all great place! All the staff are just so rad and keep the place super clean!

I have visited more than a few thrift shops in San Diego and had good, great, and bad experiences. Finding something you like, that fits, and is not damaged once you look it over is a great feeling. Overall the staff can make a huge difference in where a customer decides to shop in the retail environment and thrift stores are no different. The staff at the park Blvd location, collectively and individually, are the top two staffs I have gotten to know when thrift shopping. Ms. Kim, Brigette, And Patty specifically are engaging, customer friendly, and work extremely well under some adverse conditions. This location is in downtown and there are a large number of homeless, mentally ill, drug abusers, and a combination of all three. I have seen them deal with theft, people walking in who clearly under the influence of alcohol or a narcotic and then go right back to smiling and speaking to customers. I work downtown and stop in to this store about 3 times a week on average and have found some GREAT items!

Never a bad time at salvation army. I love them and the work they do. They do so much for people looking for help in so many different areas. They do so much more than the good will because they don’t limit themselves to a specific cause.
Love the people at this site and the one in the sports arena area, but partial to the downtown store. They are always nice and helpful. Keep up the good work. Thank you patty fray and the manager, and the girl with the dark curly hair, my favorites.

This is my favorite thrift store, the staff is super friendly and helpful, alot of them know me and always say hi with a smile, I even get hugs from Brigitte. Great store great staff. .go here!!!

I love this store! Always great deals especially the 1^st of the month. This store is better than the Salvation Army of Chula Vista and definitely way better than goodwill.

****Review for drop off only.
This location was very convenient if you are simply dropping off your donations. There is a huge parking lot, which is rare especially since this location is in downtown. Workers were very friendly and helpful. They immediately offered help when they noticed the drop off bin was full. Overall, excellent place for an easy drop off.

Used to love this thrift store. It’s old and a little scuzzy but it was always full of fun finds. Not anymore. They’ve raised the prices. A lot! It’s a thrift store that’s selling jeans (yes name brand but whatever) for $ 50! The same jeans at any Good Will run about $ 30 and it’s a cleaner store and nicer shopping experience. I won’t be back any time soon

I am a thrift store junkie and of all the ones I have been to around San Diego this is my favorite spot! They have 50% and 75% almost every day and a ton of clothing and furniture. I like to go by myself to do some serious shopping or with my mom more for fun.
The employees are awesome. If you start going there a lot as I do, they remember you and are always friendly. Gonzalo and Patty are very helpful at the registers, and don’t mind when I have a cart overflowing with stuff! Thank you to the Salvation Army for allowing me to keep shopping without spending a fortune.
Much cheaper than the prices at Goodwill! :)

I’m giving this SA a 1 star because of their employees. I was there last night shopping and it was coming close to their closing time and instead of politely asking me to finish my shopping as they were closing one of their works called me loudly by saying «AY AY»!! And at first I was like there is no way they are talking to me! But I was wrong! She was pointing at me saying AY AY! It was beyond rude and disrespectful! Now this was 25 min before they were even closing. Then at 5:50 the same lady only went up to me and said AY stop shopping no look we are closed! There was 3 other shoppers around me! As it came close within the 5 minutes of closing all of the employees began to yell «closing in 5″! If you arnt in line we aren’t ringing you up!!! Seriously this is how they treat their customers! It’s absurd! I can not believe they even have employees like this. Then as I’m waiting in line looking for my husband and child … 3 min before they close now the same rude lady comes and said away from the rack no looking or shopping. I told her I’m not I’m looking for my husband and she replies „I don’t care“ and she is shooing me away with her hand»! By far the worst employee (s) I’ve ever come across! The manager should be embarrassed!
And on top of that for used clothes they are pretty expensive! Shorts with holes and stairs are price at $ 8! That’s retarded I can go to Walmart for new ones for $ 8! They need to fix this over priced thing!

Love this Salvation Army. They have a huge number of item that are added to daily. The spec itself is cluttered, but it adds to the thrifting experience. They also have sales almost daily, which makes everything incredible affordable. Lastly, the staff is wonderful. Very helpful and friendly.

The Salvation Army really screwed me over. I am moving this weekend, and I scheduled a pickup for some furniture. When I called to get my window of arrival time, I was told between 11am and 2pm. When 2pm rolled around and nobody showed up, I gave them a call and was told to give them some more time. At 2:30 I got a call from the dispatcher to verify my address and to let me know the driver was on his way. Then at 2:45 he called to say he did his last pick up and he would not be picking up my stuff. Now I have a bunch of furniture and have no means to get rid of it. Thank you Salvation Army.

This is a great place for clothes and furniture, but it could use more electronics.

Meh. This place is ok. The block it’s on is scary and I refuse to walk there at night, and let’s be honest most days too. The highlight of ever coming here was that one time there was a fist fight between two cracked out women while Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ played in the background. And at that very moment I caught myself singing «I don’t wanna dieeeeeeee». I left the store and went home, after the fight ended obviously. Crackhead-​1, other crackhead-​0, or in this case — do they both lose?

Relatively large salvation with a good amount of selection. The store is a bit dirty and parking is hard to find, but prices are pretty good. There is usually a longer line for checkout at this Salvation Army.

Yuck. I went to their store for the first time yesterday. How disappointing. I was looking at men’s shirts. There were no «S», «M» or «L» etc, (those round white and black size dividers) signs on the clothing racks. Yet, they have modern computer generated price tags! And their prices are expensive. So, they’ve figured out how to gouge the customer.
(Comparison note: There’s a disgusting thrift shop in Hillcrest, which I will not name and I will never go there again, and they, at least, have the clothing size tags on their clothing racks. I’m really sick and tired of trailer trash thrift shops in San Diego. We as customers need to send a serious message to the underachieving owners of these stores.)
I thought I’d check out their books. There is a large book rack in the back. Yet there are no labels by subject. This book rack is very long and large. There are lots of books. How is one expected to find a book? Spend all day and look at each book? No thanks.
After I walked in and found these problems. I immediately walked out. Needless to say, I will NEVER go there again. I don’t care what type of store it is, if it’s 1) Unorganized, 2) They make it difficult for the customer to find things and 3) The prices are high… they don’t get my business.
Warning: The street they are on is filled with people loitering (it does not feel safe to walk in that area) and the stench of urine from the sidewalk fills the air.

Today would have been a good day to shop for clothes, because everything was 50% off. However, their furniture is what I came for.
It is absolutely ridiculously priced. For example, a 4 piece side table set cost $ 299. One of tables had broken, rickety legs. Were they antiques? I don’t know. It didn’t say. They needed a lot of work.
Best of all: a bright green IKEA table was priced at $ 22.99. The table costs $ 7.99 BRAND NEW at IKEA! And the leg wasn’t screwed on correctly.
The Salvation Army does good things to help people, but the reality is if they’re charging more for used, broken down goods than the goods cost new, people will not purchase these goods. And then no one will be helped.

Is this the one next to Kobey’s Swap Meet? If so, this is the review for it (too lazy to look at a map). This SA actually has a decent clothing section of cute clothes. I got compliments from two skirts I bought here which fit my fatass like a glove. When I was there everything in the store was also 50% off! =D
I thought the workers there were a bit grumpy though. I found the cheap used suitcase I wanted, but the guy wouldn’t go lower than $ 10 (I thought $ 5 was already too much since it was worn in and had a torn pocket. Ended up getting it for $ 5 after another customer was able to get him to go down to $ 7.50 and the kind lady paid the $ 2.50 for me. What a nice soul!
Small parking lot which sucks, but you will find something here.

Fairly typical Salvation Army. Found some Anne Klein, Guess, and others here. There’s lots of junk so it’s easy to spot the good stuff. It’s cheaper than the Goodwill down the street, and they have ½ off or buy 2 get 1 free sales so watch out for those. The bad part is that there is no place to try things on! They have a within 7 day return policy so save your receipt. Luckily, I live a block away so I can use my apartment as a dressing room. The people hanging out on the corner are very nice and friendly and they really appreciate it if they want to chat with you and you stop and listen to their stories.

I live a couple blocks away and on the days when I have nothing to do I’ll wander over and take a look around. The clothing/​shoe sections are hit and miss although I found 2 nice cardigans and a nice pair of granny boots there. The people who work there are friendly but the people who SHOP there can be seedy because of the area it’s located in.
They have the buy 2, get 1 free special going on all the time.
One of the bigger Salvation Armies I’ve been in.

Alright selection on clothes. I would give it a 3.5. I’ve found several pairs of good shoes here. They have a boutique section which honestly isn’t much different from the regular section and I’ve never found anything good here. They have a HUGE furniture selection that takes up half the store and it’s not that cheap either.
One of the reasons I used to come in is the girl that worked here would give us everything at really discounted prices, and even rang up something without a tag for the cheapest little kids shirt we could find.
One time I was browsing near the shoes section (where the men’s clothes used to be) and a man in a wheelchair whizzed up next to me and questioned me because apparently I looked suspicious. really though? Was I shoplifting? No? Why don’t you spend your time warding away all the people drinking 40’s of king cobra outside stirring up a ruckus by the door instead of bothering me.
There always tends to be a strange odor eminating from the shoes section. It changes everytime I come in. Strange.