Resale shops
Sep. 24th, 2013 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizillaLast weekend I had a tour of the Ann Arbor resale shop scene. I never knew most of these places existed.
In one of the industrial parks on the west side, back of the car dealers on Jackson Rd, there is a large warehouse that is the Habitat for Humanity resale shop. They have a loading dock with a near continuous stream of furniture donations coming in and sales going out. They have a LOT of furniture in there. Also, more light fixtures than the lighting aisles at Lowes, and a number of entire used kitchens. If my garage didn't already have cabinets and workbenches, I'd buy a used kitchen to install out there. They also have new and used doors and windows, and a variety of building supplies. And it is very, very busy - the turnover must be pretty fast. If you don't find what you want, this week, go back next week.
Next, we visited the Recycle Ann Arbor shop on S Industrial. Also a good-sized warehouse. They had a lot of furniture but not as much as Habitat. Also, lots of sporting equipment, stereo equipment, and used items of all sorts. Most of it is pretty tattered. Since their goal is mainly to reduce the waste sent to the landfill, I suspect they take things that other resale shops would reject. But the interesting thing here is that they are selling wood planks from urban trees. Apparently there are a number of small local sawmill outfits that slice up downed yard trees. There are a lot of unusual kinds of wood, because people plant a lot of exotic trees in their gardens. Some of these planks are really expensive, like slabs of walnut two inches thick, twelve feet long, and the whole width of the very large tree, with the bark still on the outside, and price tags north of a thousand bucks. If you had the carpentry skills/tools you could make some fabulous heavy furniture from unusual wood species, using materials bought there. I don't know where else you could even source some of that wood, and they have tons of it.
Then we visited the PTO thrift shop, also on S Industrial. This place is more curated, clean and well lit, with some clothes, stacks of dishes, baskets, and things that were probably donated by the estates of people who believed that "she who dies with the most fabric wins." Also, costume jewelry and curios.
Then we visited the Salvation Army. This is in the same neighborhood, on State near the train tracks, and is also a giant warehouse. They have mainly clothes and they sort by color. Imagine thousands of t-shirts, carefully arranged into a rainbow on hundreds of feet of racks. It's stunning. I have average sized friends who find fabulous things in places like that, but as a beanpole I just get tired when I imagine picking through that stuff in hopes of finding things long enough.
Anyway, I hadn't been to most of these places before, didn't even know some of them existed. And I was in awe. These places are huge and right in my backyard.
In one of the industrial parks on the west side, back of the car dealers on Jackson Rd, there is a large warehouse that is the Habitat for Humanity resale shop. They have a loading dock with a near continuous stream of furniture donations coming in and sales going out. They have a LOT of furniture in there. Also, more light fixtures than the lighting aisles at Lowes, and a number of entire used kitchens. If my garage didn't already have cabinets and workbenches, I'd buy a used kitchen to install out there. They also have new and used doors and windows, and a variety of building supplies. And it is very, very busy - the turnover must be pretty fast. If you don't find what you want, this week, go back next week.
Next, we visited the Recycle Ann Arbor shop on S Industrial. Also a good-sized warehouse. They had a lot of furniture but not as much as Habitat. Also, lots of sporting equipment, stereo equipment, and used items of all sorts. Most of it is pretty tattered. Since their goal is mainly to reduce the waste sent to the landfill, I suspect they take things that other resale shops would reject. But the interesting thing here is that they are selling wood planks from urban trees. Apparently there are a number of small local sawmill outfits that slice up downed yard trees. There are a lot of unusual kinds of wood, because people plant a lot of exotic trees in their gardens. Some of these planks are really expensive, like slabs of walnut two inches thick, twelve feet long, and the whole width of the very large tree, with the bark still on the outside, and price tags north of a thousand bucks. If you had the carpentry skills/tools you could make some fabulous heavy furniture from unusual wood species, using materials bought there. I don't know where else you could even source some of that wood, and they have tons of it.
Then we visited the PTO thrift shop, also on S Industrial. This place is more curated, clean and well lit, with some clothes, stacks of dishes, baskets, and things that were probably donated by the estates of people who believed that "she who dies with the most fabric wins." Also, costume jewelry and curios.
Then we visited the Salvation Army. This is in the same neighborhood, on State near the train tracks, and is also a giant warehouse. They have mainly clothes and they sort by color. Imagine thousands of t-shirts, carefully arranged into a rainbow on hundreds of feet of racks. It's stunning. I have average sized friends who find fabulous things in places like that, but as a beanpole I just get tired when I imagine picking through that stuff in hopes of finding things long enough.
Anyway, I hadn't been to most of these places before, didn't even know some of them existed. And I was in awe. These places are huge and right in my backyard.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-09-25 12:19 am (UTC)Our prop disp site also has airport lots; bundles of stuff confiscated from travelers. And they also sell drug raid goods (lots of blingy jewelry, mostly)
no subject
Date: 2013-09-25 03:54 am (UTC)But, if you need cheap computer parts, you can go there and buy three of whatever it is for less than the Microcenter will sell you one of 'em, and of those three, at least two will work. It is (or was anyway, it's been a few years since I've been there) a great place for nerd trash-pickin'.
no subject
Date: 2013-09-25 12:05 pm (UTC)I want to get some lab glass. Why? because it's cool.
I have no use for it, other than as kitchen ware.
Erlenmeyer flasks and beakers make great drinking glasses.
:~)
no subject
Date: 2013-10-02 11:52 am (UTC)-B