Savers — Local services in Contiguous United States

I've been going to this Savers for a few years, since it opened. I'm what I would call a Savers loyalist--I would choose Savers over Goodwill any day, and I come here about once a week. Thrifting is my hobby because I love fashion, so I've spent thousands of dollars here. I am on good terms with the staff since I'm here so often. I've found some truly amazing stuff at great prices, true vintage and quality clothing items. However, I have to say that the quality of the inventory has fallen significantly in a span of a few months. Things that used to be out on the floor at reasonable prices are gone, such as Coach purses and items made of real leather and fur. The decor is mostly junk, with the vintage/quality items behind the counter at ridiculous prices. Framed art now costs around $50+. The thing that crossed the line for me were the two Modeline mid century modern lamps they have priced for $2,000. They might still be there, you could go see them now. These lamps are not in good condition, as one has an unfixable broken wooden beam, and they're filthy. A quick google image search yields multiple listings for these lamps, and yes, they can sell for upwards of 2.5k, however that is when they're in mint condition. Lamps that are in poor condition (like these ones are) only sell for about $300 for a pair. I confronted the store manager who i previously had a great relationship with, hoping she'd be amenable to my concerns. I told her they were not worth that much, and tried to show her the listings. I told her if they reduced the price to $300, I would buy them right then and there. I tried to emphasize that I'm a vintage collector and know what i'm talking about. She seemed very uncomfortable, wouldn't look at me at all, and went off to talk to production. She's gone for a long time, and comes back to tell me they'll reduce it to 1.5k, and that "that's a huge discount." I honestly felt offended. I'm not a confrontational person, but if I was, I'd ask to speak to the production staff myself. These lamps are simply not worth that much, and the managers who price things are aware that nobody will buy them at that price. I used to work at the Savers in Woodbridge in 2017, and it's a known fact that when items don't sell, workers often take them home. It's clear to me that someone in the back wants these lamps and is waiting for them to be "recycled," so that they can take them home and try to sell them. It's super disappointing for a vintage collector like myself, who doesn't want to sell these for profit, but actually wants to use them in her home and appreciate them, that the last place that sold vintage for affordable prices (thrift stores) is going down the drain. If the management reads this, you know who I am, and I want to say i'm super disappointed...

My mom and I are fairly prolific thrifters - I mean, you don't find those amazing deals or hard to find items by going sporadically. We do not go out to this Savers very often because it is a bit of a hike for us.

The pros: it's big, has a good housewares section, and most of the time, you can find some good furniture if you are handy and don't mind rehabbing the furniture (like I do).

The cons: the pricing is all over the place. Some things are priced way under value and some are priced more than they would originally retail. Two of the exact same item might be priced differently. Also, they do not have much of a luxury or mid-luxury purse section.

Why you should avoid: the times we have gone the staff have been nothing but rude, rude, rude. Which is so disappointing because the Woodbridge location is exemplary in customer service (see my review there). Eva, Fairfax's manager, is the worst and is actively antagonistic to customers she doesn't like. Why didn't she like us? We pointed out that two pairs of the exact pants were different prices, and the lower price one actually still had the tags on it (I wanted to other pair). We asked her about it since we know for a fact that corporate policy gives in store management the authority to fix discrepancies like this. We asked her nicely to fix it, and when she refused I did push back a bit because I know what the company policy is and she just refused to do her job. So I simply said okay and put both pants on the return rack. At that point she just lost it on us and was going out of her way to be rude to us - sighs of annoyance, rolling her eyes when we asked for her to enter my mom's senior discount, ignoring us when we needed help, etc.

Another example is when I found two bookcases I wanted to purchase and asked if I could just move them by check-out (out of the way of course) since they didn't fit in my cart and so they weren't on the floor anymore - like you do at every single other thrift store - so I could continue shopping. They wouldn't let me. Let's compared that to Woodbridge, where that exact same weekend when I bought a chair, the staff rushed over to help me, actually carried the chair up to check-out to hold for me until I was done shopping, then offered to help take it out to my car.

If you can tolerate rude staff and weird pricing, you may occasionally find some good deals. But be prepared to hunt and not feel welcomed during your time...

Certain items like vintage furniture are overpriced and jewelry is often sold at a high price, despite the authenticity not being guaranteed. Still, it’s a larger store with a decent range of items so it can be worth it to stop in if it’s not too far away.

What is frustrating, is their jewelry policy. The counter isn’t regularly attended and there’s only a bell to ring for service. The highest priced items are no longer displayed but there’s a photo album that displays a picture and the price of each item.

However, when you ask to see something, they won’t bring it to you- you have to go to a separate area that isn’t clearly defined or well lit. And the associate that helped me said she couldn’t show it to me, only a manager could which is frustrating when I’ve already had to wait for any person to come over. The manager also wasn’t immediately visible and after asking twice and being in the store for 30 minutes, the plainclothes manager was finally pointed out. However, since he was assisting another customer and didn’t seem interested in authorizing anyone else to show the item- I left without seeing the $600 bracelet I’d repeatedly asked about.

Ultimately, items are donated and while I was willing to pay the price asked, assuming the condition was good- a potential sale/donation was lost to...