Someone's trash may be your treasure -- if not, you'll have fun looking

(Editor’s Note: The skeptical Laurie Gordon decided to find out if thrift shops can deliver on their promises of treasures for pennies.) (Reporter’s Confession: A few weeks ago, I went to a “bag sale” at the Sparta United Methodist Church’s thrift shop. A little skeptical of the blurb I‘d seen about the sale, I called first. “You really get a bag full of clothes for $3?” I asked. Chuckling she said, “Yes and it doesn’t have to be just clothes.”) The first two racks had nothing for me, but as I foraged into the store, the bargains jumped out. I filled the brown shopping bag with several brand new, brand name shirts for my husband to wear to work, a pair of jeans for myself with the tags still on, and nearly new shirts and a skirt for my one-year-old daughter. A second part of the store featured trinkets, gift items, cards, kitchen appliances, stuffed animals and the like. To my amazement, this section was also included in the $3 per bag sale. I wandered through, and though I couldn’t use anything, saw some pretty neat things. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted him. We’d been looking for “him” for two months; my daughter loves his videos. There he was, peering down from an upper shelf ... an extremely hard to come by, nearly new, broad-smiling stuffed Barney! I left with about $300 worth of items for $3. They have Christian Dior ties and brand name suits, sweaters and golf wear for men. Victoria’s Secret clothes and negligee, Lord and Taylor and Talbot’s dresses, designer jeans, pocket books and jewelry for women. There are Children’s Place and Babies ‘R Us clothes and nearly new strollers and toys of all sorts for kids. The clothes may be hung randomly with mismatched hangers, but there’s no Musak piping overhead or impossibly thin, impossibly blonde salesgirls hovering like dragonflies. Thift shops and consignment stores are tucked into church basements, Main Street storefronts, funky narrow spaces between other stores, everywhere you could imagine. Much of what they feature is junk to any given customer, but the secret to finding their treasures is to know what to look for and to go frequently as stock constantly changes. The difference is more than semantics. Thrift shops benefit non-profit groups. Consignment stores, as the name illustrates, take in articles on consignment and sell them. The consigner generally gets between 40 and 60 percent of the sale price. Some consignment stores mark down prices every few weeks. Most give back items that haven’t sold in a certain amount of time. On Spring Street, Newton, The Bee Hive is a popular shop benefiting Newton Memorial Hospital. Manager Amanda Grindle, said, “We take both consignment and donations and everyone who works here are volunteers.” They rotate in and out, splitting up the hours the store is open. The front of the store is filled with furniture, pictures, mirrors, a wide variety of serving dishes and vases. Further back, are baskets, dolls, greeting cards and books. The next section contains clothes brought in on consignment. “Our policy is we get 50 percent of the proceeds and the consigner gets 50 percent,” Grindle said. All items in the back are donations. Like most thrift stores, The Bee Hive takes everything, “provided it’s in excellent condition,” Grindle said, “and we never know what may come in.”. Straus Newspaper Web page editor, Russ Crespolini, was astonished to find several brand new, brand name suites that fit him “perfectly” when he accompanied his wife, Lil, to the Salvation Army’s thrift shop a few weeks ago. The price? $14 for each suit worth several hundred dollars. On the Andover-Sparta boarder is the shop Pat Hedstrom and a friend started more than a decade ago. Barely Worn began as a children’s consignment store. Downstairs, they started The Bear’s Den, where “vendors” rent out space to sell “whatever it they want.” Hedstrom said, “The whole idea came about because we both wanted to work, but still be there for our kids before and after school,” Consequently, the businesses had “kid friendly” hours. Over the years, The Bears Den has remained the same, featuring loads of old and new treasures from furniture to clothes to even one booth that features Avon products. Upstairs, Barely Worn transformed from a strictly children’s shop to an upscale boutique. Today it is an eclectic mix of thrift store and “a little bit of this and a little bit of that.” Whether old or new, the gifts and smattering of women’s clothing are unique and the price is right. Of the church basement variety is St. Joseph’s Thrift Shop in the Catholic Church on Halstead Street, Newton. Linda Cernecaro moved to Ogdensburg and joined a new parish, but she returns every Saturday to volunteer in the shop with Mary Benziger. Over the past 12 years she’s seen some “amazing” things come through the store. “Some of the most remarkable things we get are brand new Talbot’s clothes, sometimes with the tags still on them,” Cernecaro said. “It’s like people buy for a season or are given clothes they’ll never wear so they bring them here.” The store is home to men’s and women’s clothing, a large selection of kids and infants clothes and trinkets ranging from toys to house wears to linens, books and records. Among the brand names we found in top condition were: L.L. Bean, J. Crew, Izod and Ralph Lauren. All items at St. Jo’s Thrift Shop are donated and proceeds benefit the church and church community. Klassy Konsignments is owned by Dee Debonte, of Newfoundland. The Main Street store, has a character all its own thanks to Debonte’s charisma. She greets each customer with a recitation of the day’s specials. And there are always specials. Items are marked with a price and a color coded tag. Depending on the season, the week and the special, one or more colors will be discounted, sometimes 50 or 75 percent off. Over the 16 years that Debonte has owned Klassy Konsignments, she’s seen some “unbelievable” items come through the store including an authentic Harley Davidson black leather pocket book. Debonte isn’t alone in the shop, she’s generally with her 87-year-old mother and “the head of customer relations,” Ruby the dog. Debonte used to work for a “dear friend” who owned the store, then when it became available, she decided to buy. Clothes come in by the season and feature women’s clothes for teens through adult and a large selection of maternity clothes. Debonte has a large shoe, pocketbook and jewelry area as well as a “this-and-that section” in the front. “You never know what you’re going to get,” she said, “One time a woman brought in brand new Lilly Pulitzer dresses … a whole lot of them with the tags still on.” Located on Route 517 in Ogdensburg, Bodacious Babes 14+ Consignment Boutique features hundreds of fashion accessories, from jewelry to shoes, boots and handbags amid shelves of books, bric a brac, and household decor. “All items consigned undergo rigorous scrutiny and are 3 - 5 years new, new with tags, or so well taken care of, they appear new.” In its fifth year, Bodacious Babes specializes in women’s fashion starting at size Large/14 and up to 5 and 6X. Owner Donna Lee Amerman said she finds she has three types of customers: There are the ‘treasure hunters’ who come in with absolutely no idea of what they want and find hidden treasures. Then there are the ‘bargain shoppers’. They know their labels and want to find them at bargain prices. Lastly, there are the ‘mall haters’. They need a specific item and do not want to deal with the stress and prices of the department stores. So they stop here first, hoping to find it, and purchase it at a great price. “ Bodacious Babes even has a Web site which features ever-changing coupons to use at the store as well as special “Ladies Nights,” where customers find 20% off their entire purchase during certain shopping hours. Owned by Wendy Giacodde, Kids World Consignment is located across from the Hardyston Elementary School. Giacodde has been in business for three years and got her start, “largely thanks to the encouragement of family and friends” when her three kids went off to school. Kids World Consignment carries clothes for infants up to pre-teen, but it’s real reputations is as a Mecca for toys. “Young teens come in for play station things and we have books, games, videos, and all kinds of furniture.” Giacodde said she gets a lot of things “still sealed in the box” and lets kids open their own account at the store with a parent. “Parents love this because it teaches the kids to take better care of their toys and they see what they get in return.” Big kids like Kids World too. “I get collectors in all the time looking for vintage toys like Star Wars, Ninja Turtles. Scooby Doo and toys from Disney movies with few promotional items.” Though she has a smaller space, Giacodde is well connected and said, ”If I don’t have it here, I can put it on a wish list and work with other consigners who can help us find it.” Thrift, consignment and combinations and variations of the two are all over our area and a great place to find some mind-boggling bargains.