After the post office moved around the corner for a much smaller storefront, the vacated interior was gutted out this summer to make way for a new Savers Thrift Store. I was surprised to see the parking lot full and people lining up to enter the store during the grand opening weekend. The only time the Parkmoor Plaza shopping center ever gotten busy was when the Harley-Davidson dealership hosts an event next door that overwhelms the surrounding parking lots with motorcycles and leather-clad bikers.
My worst fear about the new store was that the floor layout would be narrow and cramped like the Big Lots! store at the opposite end of the shopping center. Although the floor was packed with books, household items and clothing, the store appeared much bigger inside. The donation center took up the back half of the store. If you want to donate stuff, there are red bins for dropping off stuff during business hours at the side entrance of the building.
The only thing that caught my interest was the shelves of paperback books that you can see through the windows from outside the store. If you’re into fantasy and science fiction, like the really old stuff that most bookstores don’t carry, browsing these shelves to find something unexpected will be a pure pleasure in. Unless the spines are color-coordinated (i.e., plain white for a romance series), nothing is sorted in any particular order. Prices are $1.99 USD to 2.99 USD, with the cover price of $7.49 USD being the dividing line between prices. If you buy four books, the fifth book is free. A great deal if you’re a reader.
When the billboard went up announcing the new store, I was quite certain I haven’t heard of Savers before. I did shopped at the old location on the corner of Bascom Avenue and Stevens Creek Boulevard, which is being gutted out and has a “for lease” sign up. Looks like the new store has doubled the floor space from the old store..
As brand new Christian in the campus ministry in 1992 (20 years ago!), the church was having a great banquet dinner in the basement of the San Francisco Marriott Marquis and I needed some fancy threads for my date. With the help of the campus brothers, we found an ill-fitting dress coat and a holey pair of slacks for $12 USD. With my slicked back hair, I looked somewhat decent for a former “pagan of pagans” (my nickname before I became Christian). My date looked splendid in her beautiful emerald green grown, outshining the other campus sisters and making me look fabulous as well.
I doubt I’ll be shopping at Savers on a regular basis. I may become a regular donor as I sort through, organized and discard stuff from my cluttered life. I’ve already donated three paper bags worth of old clothes and shoes. Savers appears to be a much better fit for the community than the post office as evident by the now busy parking lot.