SCORE!!! I <heart> my thrift store manager!

[dhaunae]

My thrift store has this horrid habit of breaking up yarn into assorted bags instead of bagging all of one type/color together. They might have enough yarn to make a blanket, but it'll almost always be broken up into several different bags of assorted yarn, which makes NO sense. Over the past 6 months or so I've mentioned this to everyone there including the person who actually does the bagging and pricing, gently suggesting that they might sell more if they packaged like yarns together, with no luck. Well, today I went in and they had some really nice stuff ... broken down into a total of 14 $6.98 bags. :eek Uh, no? So this time I hunted down the manager, dragged him back to the crafts area, and I showed him what I was talking about. Result: SCORE!! He broke the bags open on the spot, pulled out what I didn't want (which was actually a bookoodle of skeins of a very nice wool blend in tan and a pretty golden brown, I just didn't want it) and consolidated what I did want. :manyheart I walked out with:

8 skeins of Debbie Bliss Merino Aran 100% wool in sage green - price: $6.98
6 skeins of Debbie Bliss Merino Aran 100% wool in navy - price: $6.98
16 skeins of Mission Falls 1824 Cotton 100% cotton in a gorgeous slate gray - price: $11.98

All that yarn for under $30! Some of it has been wound into balls but most of it is still in skeins with the wrappers on; it's all clean, no smell, and I am one happy hooker tonight! :c9 :hook :c9

[winstongang]

*GASP*!! Are you talking about Thrift Store City on Little Creek? I HATE how they always package the yarns like that, WAY TO GO on getting such a fabulous haul!:yay Now I know not to go there today, since you cleaned them out ;) I scored some really fantastic Annie Blatt yarn a few weeks ago, as well as some other pricey looking stuff. I love whoever it is that drops off all this fabulous yarn! :)


Megan

[faithpa76]

Wow!! That's fabulous! The thrift store here sorta does that - they'll put obvious (unfinished) projects together, but other stuff they often split up. Drives me nuts and makes me NOT buy it! Which is probably a good thing, lol, but anyway ...

[dhaunae]

LOL, Megan, yep, that's the one! They get some good yarn in there sometimes, don't they? And now we know if we see it packaged up that way to just go back to the furniture area and get the manager :)

[airmedh]

Why are my thrift stores the only ones that never have yarn or pattern books??? I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong.....

[buggaboosmommy]

My local thrift store has ZERO craft supplies! :( It makes me so mad..but WOW at your score! I have been wanting to try the Debbie Bliss Merino..let me know what you think of it!

Donna

[threeolivemartini]

*jealous*

but i can say this at one point last year there was a yarn store that went out of business here .. and the inventory was donated to the thrist shop here in town and i did make out like a bandit then ..

[sewmom]

What a great find! I'm inspired to go visiting the thrift store here.

[dhaunae]

All I can say to you guys is visit all of your local thrift stores and tell them that you're interested in yarn. You never know, maybe it'll help. As far as I know this is the only one in the area that has yarn and other craft stuff on even a semi-regular basis, and I've been to probably 15 thrift stores (or more) in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. The CHKD thrift stores in the area told me they THROW AWAY any donated yarn because "there just isn't enough interest". Thrift stores, like other stores, stock what sells. What I've seen happening at this particular store over the past few months (and I totally think Megan and I are the driving forces since we both seem to haunt this particular store for yarn!) is that the yarn started selling ... and they started putting more out ... and more sold ... there used to be one small bin, now there's a shelving unit and several larger bins all filled with yarn and crochet threads. I try to go by at least twice a week and check what they have; last week I scored a smaller coup with some great 100% cotton terry that matched some I already had. I figure the more I buy, the more they'll stock, and it's working.

And Donna, the Debbie Bliss is just that, blissful. I've been petting it all night (much to the bemusement of my SO; he already thinks I've lost my mind, now I'm sitting here fondling yarn!). It's really amazingly soft and cuddly; my thought when I bought it was upcoming purse swap and felting, but wool or not this is next-to-skin-soft yarn so it may not have a felted future after all.

[airmedh]

My DH hates it because now my son follows me into the yarn aisle just so he can pet the yarn. When I crochet he likes to randomly come up and just pet whatever I'm making and if it doesn't match his "softness" standards he tells me it is bad yarn!!! :lol

[Valerie77]

thrift stores do that out here too. it sucks!! ive never bought yarn at a thrift store because i dont want the 10 extra balls of puke green from the 70's. youre right, we should all be hitting up the managers for a little organization when it comes to selling this stuff...or at least just sell it loose. that would rule...

[yarncat]

WooHoo,Lani!

[kazily]

Congrats on a great haul! I love thrift stores. Yarn at thrift stores is even better!

Most of our thrifts sell them in loose skeins. Usually about .50 a skein. Sometimes less! I'm still waiting for some really good yarn though. I like acrylic so it's ok but would be great to find some chenille or wool sometime. Our stores mostly have new yarn too. They do sometimes have partial balls...but most is unused with wrappers. I keep hoping that I will show up just after someone in town gave up crochet & donated a basement full of yarn & I am there when it arrives! Dream dream dream... :D

[crochetdiva]

I am SO JEALOUS!! Hmmm, is a trip to Norfolk in the near future a good idea? Let's see with airfare from Western Canada...wait..My husband is going to Washington D.C. next week...is there a bus he could take to your thriftstore....yeah, right. I could tell him it is a yarn museum....that might get him there. LOL

[diamond]

Why are my thrift stores the only ones that never have yarn or pattern books??? I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong.....
You aren't the only one. One day I decided to hit every thrift store around me. I must have gone to 20 thrift stores. Not one had yarn or any craft supplies. I was very disappointed.

[carrieanne]

Oh, LUCKY YOU!!!!!!!! Ours here never have much either, sometimes a few old skeins, but never any really cool stuff! HAve fun, you sure got some great deals!

[dhaunae]

Seriously, guys, I've hit every thrift store in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area, and most of them told me they just throw away any donated yarn. How sad is that? But if they think it'll sell, they might change that policy ... talk to the managers! The worst thing that happens is you've wasted a little time; the best is that like this store they give it a whirl and find out that *surprise!* people will buy it!

[carrieanne]

Its so sad that they throw it out when so many people here crochet or knit for charity. Think of all the hats, mittens, stuff that could be donated. LOL, I will find out who are manager is....