Thrifted Gift Shopping: Lebanon, PA

This year our family has decide to once again exchange thrifted or handmade gifts. We all enjoy shopping at yard sales, thrift stores and flea markets so it makes it really fun to see what people find for each other. Hand made gifts or repurposed gifts from thrift store finds are a great way to give a personalized gift. We did this last year and really enjoyed coming up with creative ideas to re-purpose our thrift store finds into holiday gifts.

Looking for our christmas gifts provided us with the opportunity to explore a new bunch of thrift stores. We headed to the Lebanon, PA area and found some very good stores. The first stop was the Jubilee Shop on 12th Street. The Jublille Shop is a large well organized, clean 2 story shop. Like the Jubilee we visited in Palmyra, PA this store has a small cafe area for refreshments and a Bologna Outlet – Yum! We bought some delicious Lebanon Bologna and some Swiss cheese.

Stop 1.

Jubilee Shop
235 S 12th St, Lebanon, PA ‎
(717) 274-3962 ‎
Hours: Monday & Wednesday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

MAP
*Restrooms available
**Food available

The second floor has  a large selection of furniture and housewares, toys and sporting goods, electronics and books. There was also a nice vintage, antique area and a country gift area with new merchandise like the other Jubilee in Palmyra, PA this store is very well organized and clean!  The first floor has the clothing, shoes and accessories. There’s an upscale feeling to this area, I think because of the carpeting and layout of the space as well as the nice way the merchandise was displayed (clothing arranged by size!). The prices seemed fair and although I wasn’t looking for clothing there seemed to be some good deals and nice quality brands available.

Jubilee stores run sales and specials. The sales typically run from Wednesday to Tuesday. Additional reduced items are marked with red reduced tags and be sure to look for in-store non-advertised sales. The last Monday of every month (excluding holidays) is a store-wide 25% off sale. This is a thrift store to add to your list if you are in the Lebanon, PA area! If you don’t live in the area but would like to shop the Jubilee Store they have an online store which is part of Thrift Junction.

 Stop 2.

Goodwill Store
798 S 12th St, Lebanon, PA ‎
(717) 272-7557 ‎
Hours: Monday -Saturday 9-9; Sunday 11-6
MAP
* Restroom available

Our next stop was the Goodwill store in Lebanon, PA. It was only a short distance from the Jubilee shop on 12th Street, located in a shopping center with ample parking. This was a typical Goodwill with the goods arranged by color. They seemed to have a lot of housewares the day we visited. While I was at the check out I learned about the Rewards card sign up for Keystone Goodwill stores. It was quick and easy to sign up and will provide:

• 25% off on featured items every day.
• Emails with special promotions.
• Seniors 55 years and older receive 15% off all merchandise every Monday.
• Military members and veterans (ID required at sign-up) will receive 10% off all merchandise every day.

Stop 3.

Humane Society of Lebanon
129 Cumberland St, Lebanon, PA ‎
(717) 274-3435 ‎
Hours: Thursday through Sunday 9am to 3pm
MAP
*Restroom Available

Not only can you find great second hand gifts at the Humane Society of Lebanon, but you can help support their cause. This is a 2 level store with several rooms dedicated to a variety of goods such as books, clothing, housewares, pet items and office supplies. I loved how they even had 2 of the kitties that are available for adoption at the store. I had a nice time chatting with and petting Jewel (photo above), I’m sure she will find her new home soon. The Humane Society thrift shop also has a beautifully decorated “vintage room”, which initially was a bit frustrating as most items were NOT for sale, but did give me a lot of good ideas for ways to re-use and up-cycle  second hand, thrifted items.

The main floor also has a cozy room where you can sit and peruse the many books for sale. The basement was a fun place to “pick” through even more inventory! We found a very cool vintage turntable that with a little TLC will be playing tunes again soon.

The Humane Society Thrift Store has an active Facebook page  and Twitter account, announcing current sales and specials as well as lost pets and items they are looking to have donated. I will definitely stop back for another visit next time I’m in the area.

While we were downtown on Main Street, we visited 2 of the local restaurants. For lunch we ate Tex-Mex at Quesa Dee’as 708 Cumberland Street, Lebanon, PA 17042, it was still early so we were the only customers in the place. We enjoyed the food and the music that was playing. After lunch we thought we’d take a walk and explore Main Street, but the strong aroma of roasting coffee had us checking out the Lebanon County Coffee (formerly Cumberland Coffee & Tea Co.) just 2 doors down. With cups of fresh roasted & brewed cappuccino and a chocolate chip cookie we were ready to hit the road and continue our holiday thrifted gift shopping.

We found a few things for our holiday gift list but I can’t share them just yet (don’t want to ruin the surprise), and  really enjoyed our first visit to Lebanon, PA’s thrift stores. It’s not too late to go out and thrift shop for your holiday gift list. There’s still time and you may have a fun adventure along the way.

I’ll be sure to share our thrifted gifts after Christmas and I’d love to hear about any fun secondhand, vintage or thrifted gifts you’ve given or received.

Happy Holidays!