My shopping extravaganza at Savers

Since I am a budgeting blogger when it comes to clothing, I was intrigued when Rachel of Suburban Style Challenge passed along an opportunity to head to a sneak peek event before the grand opening of a Savers thrift store.  I jumped at it and was curious to see what a Savers store was all about since I had never been to one before.

If you haven’t heard of Savers, their mission is “to provide our customers with the best selection and shopping experience of any thrift store in the world.”  Savers is no ordinary thrift store. According to their website:

”As a leader and pioneer in the retail thrift industry, we’re a place where people from all backgrounds love to shop for great selection, deals and treasures. Savers was founded in 1954 on principles such as giving back and providing opportunities—core values we still embrace today. Our more than 140 nonprofit alliances share this thinking and inspire us with their work. Partnering with local charities is not a byproduct of our business—it’s how we do business. So when you shop at Savers, you help support many local community programs.”

So needless to say, I couldn’t wait to see what kinds of merchandise they had!
I was sent $100 in gift cards to see how far I could stretch them…and I got quite a lot!

I headed to their newest store in Hoffman Estates after work this week.  It was really crowded right when I got there (and I later learned there were lines out the door!)  Even so, there were tons of smiling staff members at every corner, asking if I wanted a bag or if I was finding everything ok.  The store was very well organized and had all kinds of sections ranging from housewares, clothing, jewelry, furniture, shoes, seasonal, etc.

For me, the biggest difference was that the quality of their merchandise was much better than the inventory you’d find at a Goodwill.  And it was much better organized.  Sure, I still had to “hunt” a little bit on the racks, but that’s part of the fun right?!  It took me no time at all to find brands like Banana Republic, Coach, Ann Taylor, Gap, J. Crew, etc. And the prices were maybe slightly higher than a Goodwill, but still fantastic deals in my opinion! (I even saw a pair of Kate Spade flats for $7.99, but I decided to pass because they were a little too worn in my opinion.)

So want to know what I got?!

– J.Crew blazer
– Banana Republic blazer
– 2 pairs of Gap jeans (one dressy pair, one regular pair)
– Eddie Bauer button up shirt for the hubs (because I’m nice like that )
– Super cute, bow tie leatherette bracelet

And then I went to the glass display case where the “really nice stuff” is, and scored this CHANEL PURSE!

I am not sure if it’s real or not, but either way, it looks pretty dang good!

Here’s all the stuff I ended up coming home with:

And the final damage?!  Under $80 bucks for all this!

Overall, I was really pleased with the quality of their inventory!  Although this store is pretty far from home, if I’m in the area, I’ll definitely make it a point to swing in and see what treasures I can find! Until then, I hope they open a location closer to me!

Do you have a Savers near you?  What do you think of it?  Any good thrifting finds lately?

Check out Savers on Twitter and Facebook.  To view store locations, visit their website.

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Linking up with Style Elixir for Friday’s Fab Favorites.