St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store — Local services in Greenfield

I normally donate to SVDP Greenfield but from this point forward I'm going to the Lincoln Ave. site instead.

While I enjoy the Greenfield store, it's beautifully laid out and displayed (it's like being in a department store rather than a thrift store), the donation staff there make for a terrible donation experience. On at least four occasions, I've been treated rudely while simply trying to donate items.

*I was behind a donor in a U-Haul truck who obviously had a lot to donate. I asked them if, instead of waiting for this truck to unload, I could just set down my few bags close to the door. They said "we can't have people leaving bags here but go ahead for now. Next time you're going to have to wait."

*Another time I had a lot of donations in my car for various organizations. It wasn't sorted so I asked if I could get out of the car and give them what I wanted to donate to SVDP and not accidentally give something that was meant for somewhere else. The staffer said "no you can't do that, you can't get out of your car." So I drove to the edge of the lot near a dumpster and started sorting out and labeling my donations. (I admit I should have done that beforehand but things happen.) Then a staffer came running over to me and said "you can't throw your things in the dumpster; we don't allow that." I said "I'm NOT throwing my donations in the dumpster, that's why they're called Donations - because I want to Donate them. Why would I drive to SVDP to throw things away?! But because you wouldn't let me sort and hand off in the drive through, I'm over here sorting my donations." I had a good mind to just drive off and take my things somewhere else but I got in line AGAIN to donate.

*Obviously I didn't learn my lesson because on another occasion, I had unsorted bags so the staffer told me I'd have to go somewhere else because I couldn't hold up the line. So I drove to space in the outer lot just north of the drive through. I took each bag out of my car and walked them over to the door. There I was told I can't just leave bags sitting there, I would have to get back in my car and drive through, AGAIN, with the bags I just walked over. Then I saw the person who was behind me in the original line was now ahead of me. He was standing in the bed of his pickup handing items to staff, apparently sorting as he did so. Please tell me how that's different from me getting out of my car to hand items to staff!

Those are just three occasions. I'm sure it's obvious why I choose never to donate to that site. These examples take the feel-good experience out of donating to places that provide to those who may not be able to afford new things.

I try very hard to donate to specific places. For example:

*Most clothing and shoes, women's personal items, some household items, crafts, coloring books and reading books to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. *Men's and women's clothing for the workplace and job interviews to the VA. *Toys to House of Peace. *Outdoor clothing and bedding to Repairers of the Breach. *Books to Little Free Libraries. *Household items and electronics to SVDP. *Anything related to household repairs and DIY to Habitat for Humanity.

*Nothing to the Goodwill since I learned they break and dispose of entire shelves of glassware to make room for more. *Nothing to Value Village since I learned they take cartfuls of clothing to send somewhere for shredding. They call it ragging.

I think new staff in the drive through at SVDP Greenfield should provide better service to donors and realize they're donating for a reason: to help those who need help. I don't believe any donor expects to be treated so poorly while trying to do the...

Their drop off staff is rude as all heck. I have had issues here before. Once I stopped on my lunch break from work. There was only one young man moving as slow as a turtle. He was taking items from the cars one piece at a time, instead of using a bin like Goodwill does. The cars were lined up six deep. I had to leave to get back to work in time. Last night I drove up at 5:05. Yes the cones were up, but there were three men, that obviously worked there, still standing outside by the doors chatting. They all starting yelling at me "we are closed." I got out of the car with my really nice stuff to donate. I thought they would say you are a few minutes late, but sure we can still take that for you. Instead they said NO DUMPING, NO DUMPING. I said what? They said if you leave that we will throw it in the garbage. I said this is a $180 custom patio table cover. The company made it too long, and sent me another one. They said just donate it, so I was going to give it to you. He said I really don't care lady, we are closed. How rude can you get? Do they not understand that our donations allow them to have their jobs? Management needs to retrain their staff to appreciate us and our donations. I will never donate to this location again in my life. I went to the Goodwill on Hwy 100 and Oklahoma. I was so mad, that I told the nice young man my whole story. He couldn't believe it. He said you are not the first one to tell me how rude they are at...

As with any thrift store, it can be hit or miss some trips here. Some days I've left catching a deal or two, but most times I've left empty handed. There's a decent men's clothes section but just like usual, men's clothing tends to always be worn more heavily by the previous owner and you'll need to pick through it to find something to buy. Be careful and look for stains or rips, obviously. But then again, I've sometimes walked out of there buying almost brand new shirts for a great price.

Furniture selection is good, but I honestly think the way they price most of it is ridiculous. There's some pretty heavily used or damaged pieces they'll try selling for what I'd consider a high price, sometimes almost the same as a store chain would sell the same thing for brand new.

There's a giant women's section throughout the store from what I've seen. There's also some kind of general home/ tool/ sporting good section that can be worth a look sometimes.

So in general, take your time and look over everything you're interested in or catches your eye. Sometimes they'll have a free bread item from the walmart next door when you...