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

This is definitely a great store for bargains, and it mostly has a clean physical plant despite it's outdated interior. With that being said; some items are pretentiously priced considering they are "donated". I realize it is a charity though, which brings me to my next point. The charitable mindset that you would expect to see in the employees is lacking. One associate in particular who always works at the check out is rather unpleasant with which to deal. She is fast and mostly efficient, but usually curt with customers and does not extend genuine kindness, or excellent customer service. This, accompanied by the habit of not answering simple questions when asked, and pointing out customer's faults or mistakes without grace is rather off-putting. The best way to describe it is that she 'treats people as a number'. I've seen her often regard other customers as a well as me, with rude suspicion rather than appreciation or a 'customer is always right' attitude. On a lighter note: I personally think the all over appearance of the store has been much improved as far as layout and organizing in the last few years. Now if the friendly atmosphere and customer care aspects were cultivated; St. Vincent de Paul would be a Major player in the resale arena in town. It may even be able to drastically increase the amount and quality of donations. It's my opinion that people feel better knowing that their donations are going to facilities that are concerned with the community and not only making money to pay often grumpy staff and pay overhead, but to give back in tangible was. People want to 'see' what you 'give back' and while doing so; keep items fairly priced, as well as the staff conducting business from a friendly and neighborly mindset . *Last but not least, I do feel it rather rude to patrons still shopping in the store when the lights are turned off prematurely WELL BEFORE the actual "closing" time. It's very disrespectful in my opinion. It's not a practice used in ANY OTHER store in Marshfield and is quite possibly the only store anywhere that resorts to these measures. Pay your employees to stay a few minutes late when necessary. Their anxiousness is very apparent at closing time and translates stress to the person trying to check out . Are they less deserving of respect because of the 'time of day' that they are shopping? Why is it perceived as laziness, rudeness or a personal affront to the employees on-the-clock when someone is shopping near closing time? A lot of people don't just live a normal 9-5 work life. It's a new world where people don't always have the luxury of shopping during 'normal' times. Rethinking this procedure might be a way to cultivate respect with regards to customer care and guest relations. Exit Soap box! Thank you...

Pros and Cons:

Pro: Very clean, modern, well organized and absolutely full of stuff. Lots of clothing, books, furniture - this place has a lot to offer.

Con:

Says it’s open till 4:30pm. Not fantastic hours for people who work - forget it if you work from 9 to 5! I am from out of town and got there at 4:10pm thinking - cool - I have 20 minutes to shop. 4:15pm - there was an announcement that the store is closing in 15 minutes, make your selection and come check out. Hmm. I’m still thinking I have 10 minutes to shop - I’m looking through the kids clothes - the lights go off. It’s 4:15!!! Then the lights go off in the book section and everywhere else. Seriously - no retail establishment does this! Five minutes to close? Sure. Start herding folks to the checkout. But not with 15 minutes to go. There was one person in line at the checkout - I left without buying anything because I didn’t get a chance to look before the lights went out. Very disappointing because it looked like there was lots of quality merchandise and I definitely would have...

The services that are offered to many in need of help w/medical needs, food, etcetera ... For this service, and only this service I would give 5 stars ...

The BIGGEST issue I have is everything is donated ... It is given to St. Vincent for free ... Then they put their OWN price on it and it's ridiculously, outrageously high for some items you can buy brand new for the same price or less ... For example - They were selling candle holders for more than a $1 and those EXACT same ones were at the dollar tree and the person actually bought them from the dollar tree ... I realize the prices need to be up a bit because, yes, people with money go in and pick up things for projects and such, but come on ...

I myself do find deals and I do love going in there ... And sometimes just to look because it changes all the time, and, I have a grandchild 😊 ...

The staff are rude and they don't seem to want to help you ... I see this in the women staff only ... When I any of the men working there they are very pleasant and willing to help, even if they...