The Savvy Picker travels around the Southeast looking for vintage merchandise to stock in her brick-and-mortar and online shops. Last year, which included a new addition to her family, ended up being her busiest year yet, so she didn’t have as much time as usual to write about her thrifting adventures but is happy to return to Now Habersham to share the great deals she found at The Sharing & Caring Thrift Store in Clarkesville, Georgia.
Keep reading to check out her hauls and pick up a few tricks of the trade.
Worth the wait!
I stumbled across the Sharing & Caring Thrift Store in Clarkesville after pulling out of the Habitat Re-Store parking lot. After all, it was directly in my path. I couldn’t miss it, especially with the big banner near the door announcing their 40th year of being open. It was 9:51 a.m. when I parked my car alongside several others already parked in the lot and strode up to the door—only to discover the store didn’t open until 10:00! Thus, I commenced peeking in the windows to see if the store was worth the nine-minute wait.
Unfortunately, the large windows were all lined with some type of shiny mirroring stuff, so all I could see was myself peeking back at me, and since I already know I’m no bargain, I headed back to my car to wait it out.
Thirty seconds later, the folks in the car next to me headed to the door and started forming a line that included several others who had exited their vehicles in the half-minute I’d been sitting back in mine! (Alas! I could have been first!) But since, in my experience, if there’s a line at a thrift store, it usually pays to get in it, I hopped out of the car again and took my place behind the last person.
I’ve never been great at waiting, so I made small talk with the folks in line, asking what kind of items the store carried. Once the crowd confirmed that the store had housewares in addition to clothes and furniture, I kept my place and was among the first dozen customers to enter when the store opened at 10 a.m. Homing in on a shelf full of housewares to the right, I headed in that direction.
It pays to keep notes
I found a couple of cool things on the first shelf I passed, including the large cloisonne bell you can see nestled among other bells in the photo above and the tall, narrow woman vase a little further down, as I made my way to the larger room stocked with loot. There, I picked up an adorable retro suitcase for $5 that lasted less than a weekend priced at $25 in my shop, and a retro typewriter for only $5 that I sold for $35 to a loyal customer back home entered in my phone as “Typewriter Guy.”
A note about loyal customers here. It pays to keep notes on what people are looking for. When our customers at the shop show interest in something or say they are looking for something in particular, we ask if they want us to take their names and numbers.
In the year and a half or so since Typewriter Guy left his name, I’ve probably sold him 10 typewriters for varying prices. He repairs them himself and is interested in every machine, as he calls them. (Typewriter Guy, if you are reading this, I’m sorry I don’t know your name, but please remember the vintage typewriter Christmas ornament I gifted you and your wife this year and try to forgive me!)
Anyway, once I grabbed that sure-to-sell typewriter, I realized I needed one of those shopping buggies I’d blown past when hurrying through the doors. I went back to get one, but they were already all gone. Darn it! Luckily, the nice lady at the register had pity on me as she watched me struggling to carry the suitcase, the typewriter, two large retro banks, the narrow lady vase, and the bell! She offered to let me make a pile on the floor next to her while I continued shopping. I took her up on the offer.
Hands free, I went back to shopping and picked up a brass pineapple lamp and a gorgeous hand-thrown pottery pitcher.
The nice people working that day helped me box up my treasures, which took me more than one trip to load into the car, making Sharing & Caring one of my favorite stops!
Sharing & Caring has thrift stores in Clarkesville and Cornelia. The money raised from selling donated items goes to local families and individuals who need assistance with food, utility payments, and other basic necessities. Another bonus for thrifters: it is so close to the Habitat Re-Store, you can visit both places in one stop.
TSP Takeaway
The Sharing & Caring Thrift Store is located at 110 Camelot Way, off Highway 17, across from the Habersham County Recreation Department in Clarkesville.
Who should visit: This is one of those DON’T MISS stops if you want a BARGAIN!
Score of the day: Character Banks
Profit on banks: $30
Re-seller takeaway: Grab a buggy when you walk in the door, even if you think you won’t need one.
For more great Savvy Picker reads and finds, click here.
