The Salvation Army Thrift Store & Donation Center — Local services in Town of Colonie

UPDATE: all of the nice staff are gone. There is one cashier who is nice and just trying to work her 9-5 and I respect that. But holy cow the amount of rude- ignorant BLATANTLY racist and homophobic staff who are now employed at this location is crazy. Like I get Salvation Army is a church but holy cow. I had an experience where I was accused of stealing the water container that I was drinking COKE out of…. And yes I had it the whole time it was in the store. I absolutely understand the prices sometimes- rent has gone up and so has buisness. but I feel like lately they have purposely been putting the paper tags on so they rip and can price them full price “for not having a tag” And it’s one thing to be messy and chaotic- this store is actually filthy. Dirt and dust bunnies galore- piles and piles and piles of clothes not being run- and the “sections are sections.” They need to pay their current staff more- cause idk how they deal with it. And they need to hire more staff. They have a nice plus size selection and a good sized men’s section. There are so many better local charity shops and thrifts- and I frequent those much more often.

As I child I relied heavily on thrift stores- and as an adult I enjoy them. The staff is very mixed- The super sweet elderly POC woman (im awful with names) is always behind the counter ready to greet you with a smile, and the people who bring out the carts are always wonderful and willing to answer questions. There are two cashiers who are awful- rude, grouchy, unfriendly- and THEY I have seen first hand changed prices behind the register then what was on the tag- or refuse to sell at a tagged price because it was marked "incorrectly" It 100% ruins the atmosphere of this otherwise awesome thrift store. Most of the time I enjoy coming here- However in the last month ALONE the prices at this location have sky rocketed- along with every thrift store in the community unfortunately- to the point of it not being reasonable to bother buying something used- rather then from say TJ Maxx or Shein brand new. The discount days are sometimes decent- and I've gotten some gems here or there- but I hope the store doesn't stay this way- they are going to run themselves out...

I always appreciate that salvation army does the three colors so that things are more affordable but it gets really tedious that everything is donated nothing is washed nothing is curated and they're charging prices that you would charge at a vintage store that actually curates. Not to mention it's becoming, at least in New York state and possibly New Jersey, a place where Target, forever 21, Zara, and other very generic clothing companies go to die because the reality is they're trying to sell stuff that you can get at Walmart for $15 and I've literally seen them charge more for used versions of the same clothes So I'm getting really sick of these thrift stores not really being thrift stores and trying to eek out every single penny. These thrift stores are supposed to have a dual purpose they're supposed to help their programs and stuff but they're also supposed to be helping their local community and charging $75 for a motorcycle jacket they got for free doesn't really reek of helping the local community. Unfortunately this one, had zero carts, had zero even baskets because all of the employees were using the carts to put back the clothes while they all talk to each other across aisles very loudly, And I'm not really sure why I have to be part of those conversations It's annoying and it's actually very selfish to not let the people who are spending money have the convenience of having a cart So this one particularly even though it was...

I just dropped off beautiful, clean, pressed and dry-cleaned clothes as well as many other items from books to DVD's, shoes, wallets, etc to the Salvation Army on Troy Schenectady Rd in Latham NY and was disgusted and appalled to see what a mess the outside drop off is. As a Nurse and Health educator I was sick to think what is "growing" such as molds and spores as well as bacteria in the merchandise as well as what disease ridden rodenst could be lurking in the copious piles and bins . You have to know all of the items/clothes were in the rain last night and probably for weeks or months.

When I said I have nice clean clothes on hangers and in dry cleaning bags ( I dry cleaned sweaters for you) and hate throwing them on the pile next to all the "garbage" the young man said "Yeah I have to get cleaning" . I think he needs lots of help.

I will donate to other underserved collection areas ($ and items) as this was...