Shopping for second-hand clothes used to be seen as a need. Now, thrifting clothes is considered less of an essential and more of a fashion statement. Austin is home to over 30 thrift stores and it has become a trend to go thrifting. Thrifting started to become a fashion trend during the pandemic thanks to TikTok.
According to a study at the University of Colorado Boulder Americans throw away over 13 million tons of clothing each year. The majority of clothes are made from synthetic materials, which can take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills When consumers thrift, they help reduce the massive amounts of clothing sent to landfills each year. Shoppers should not only feel good about disposing of unwanted clothing by donating, but also through saving hard money.
One of my favorite parts of shopping at thrift stores is the atmosphere and life that lives in these stores. Stores like Pavement have an amazing ambiance so much creative artwork all around the outside of the building. Many people will pose outside and take pictures. Even with it having crowded colors around the building it’s very clean, spacious, and organized. But a common issue with thrift stores like Pavement is the clothes can be more expensive and they are pretty picky about what they accept in donations of clothes. Overall, I like shopping at Pavement and would recommend it especially if you are looking for accessories like jewelry, sunglasses, and purses.
If you’re still looking for good thrift finds after Pavement, right next door is Buffalo Exchange. Parking can be difficult on this street with limited spacing. But along with Pavement, the outside has lots of color with cheetah print covering most of the front. They also have a good selection of jewelry and sunglasses and a good variety of shoes. Regarding the clothes, Buffalo Exchange has a good selection but can either be a great deal or overpriced. Based on many reviews the staff can not be very friendly but in my personal experience, the staff has never been rude. I have never had a bad experience here but sometimes Pavement can have a better selection of clothes.
The last store I found with a good atmosphere was Top Drawer Thrift. It’s clean and well laid out. The atmosphere was fun, and the decorations were cute and quirky but they had very little selection. They did have reasonable priced antiques and collectibles but it’s not the place to go for clothes more of nicknacks. I liked the spirit in this store: very friendly staff and people shopping there.
Something I noticed with some thrift stores like Thrift Land, Thrift Town, and Thrift Center is the weekly or even daily discounted colors. The deals are great there and can save an insane amount of money. The best thrift out of those stores I would say is the Thrift Center. It’s kind of cozy, nice and clean, even if it’s a little cramped. I thought the deals at all of these stores were great but there are some major problems with Thrift Land and Thrift Town.
My main issue with both is no public restrooms anymore. Thrift Land doesn’t have fitting rooms and only accepts cash, but they have an ATM in the store that charges you a $3.75 fee. With Thrift Land, there were a lot of complaints from customers about closing early, not by just 10 minutes, but like an hour earlier. I went there earlier in the day so I can’t say this was my personal experience.
The only other thrift store I found with no dressing rooms was Goodwill Central Texas – Brodie Lane. Since this store was remodeled many complaints about it being hard to push carts around the store and of course complaints about no fitting rooms. For me, This thrift store is more for good deals on furniture rather than clothes. Something I think more stores would do is the drive-through drop-off. They have you just pull up and they’ll help you unload your donations. Overall, it’s not a bad thrift I have gotten some good clothes from here but not my top choice for a thrift.
I hate to say this but from my experience, the worst thrift store I went to was Flamingos Vintage Pound. Every time I have gone here it’s been understaffed, with only one worker who is always very quiet. But something cool about this store is you pay by the weight of the things you buy. For the most part Flamingos Vintage Pound is not bad with clothes but I just got a strange vibe in the store.
Last up is Uptown Cheapskate. This store had a lot of good reviews online than some of the others in Austin. They have reasonable prices and many reviews about nice staff, and they have quick assistant in the dressing rooms. In-store credit never expires and it stays with your account. It was hard to find a bad review compared to the other thrifts.
If you are looking for goods for a lower price I would recommend going to any of these.
But for my favorites, it would be Pavement and Uptown Cheapskate. I have never had close to bad occurrences at either. I think thrifting is a great way to not only not waste goods but to find great deals.
