Tour de Thrift – Stage 4

Saturday we found ourselves driving south, down coastal Route 1. During Stage 1 of our tour we visited several good thrift shops south of us in Damariscotta, Wiscasset and Boothbay. This weekend we decided to combine thrift shopping with another errand, (visit the Maine Running Company) in Brunswick, further south. This gave us a great excuse to check-out the thrift stores in that area.

Shop #1
Goodwill Store
106 Park Drive
Topsham, ME 04086
(207)-729-1917
Map
Hours: Mon-Sat 9:00am – 8:00pm Sundays 10:00am – 6:00pm
*Restrooms available

The Topsham Goodwill store is easy to get to from either route 1 or exit 31 off of 295. It’s tucked behind a very busy commercial area which includes fast food restaraunts, a Starbucks, and many other stores like Target, Best Buys, etc. At first when we turned onto Park Drive, we thought we were headed to a dead end but we soon saw the familiar blue and white Goodwill sign on our left.

It’s always exciting to pull up to a new thrift store and this was no exception.
Since I had some things to donate I got to go in through the back entrance. It was cool to catch a glimpse behind the scenes and see all the good stuff they were sorting. Once inside, I noticed the store had a lot of natural light and they did a nice job making colorful displays. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything that I was looking for but, my husband found two polaroid cameras…of course! Since this store is right off the exit we take when traveling in and out of Maine, we will be sure to visit again.

Best Finds: Polaroid cameras

A blog reader reminded me the other day to mention wether or not the thrift stores we visit have public restrooms. I’ll try and add that under the store hours when possible.

We headed into Brunswick, ME next to visit the running shoe store, we’ve heard so much about. The store and the employees were super nice and very knowledgeable. I would recommend visiting them if you are looking for expert advice and good running or sports shoes. Brunswick is a cool little college town. Home to Bowdoin College. We’ve been here before to visit the Museum of Art on the Bowdoin campus. It’s a great little museum with some wonderful shows and it’s free! The busy Main street area of Brunswick is definitely worth several more visits to explore. Next visit we will have to make sure we have time to eat at one of the several restaurants we’ve also heard about like Bombay Mahal.

Shop #2
Salvation Army Thrift Store
127 Pleasant Street (Route 1)
Brunswick, ME 04001
Map
Hours: Mon-Sat 9am – 6pm
Closed Sunday

Don’t let the fact that the Brunswick, ME Salvation Army thrift store looks a little rough around the edges. Plenty of  bargains and treasures can be found inside. There was some pretty funky furniture (note green couch in photo below) and lots of housewares to pick through. I love how the clothing is organized by color. I managed to find a black pair of Levi jeans which were half-off so I got them for $3.00!

Saturday the store was buzzing and the fun oldies music they had playing had everyone be-bopping around the aisles. We all had a laugh in the checkout line, when we realized we were all tapping our feet and moving to the same beat! We’ve stopped here before and will again as it’s located right on route 1.

Shop #3
Freeport Community Center
Thrift Shop
53-57 Depot Street
Freeport, ME 04032
(207) 865-3985
Map
Hours: Mon -Fri 8:00am – 4:30pm
Saturday 9:00am – 4:30pm
*Restrooms available

Most people visit Freeport, Maine to shop the outlet stores and find good deals. I would say that better bargains may be found here at the Freeport Community Center thrift shop. The store is very bright and well organized with some higher end name brands than you may see in other thrift stores. This maybe the only time I’ve seen a display rack of what I refer to as cruise wear while thrift shopping!

I enjoyed looking at the jewelry in the case and the wide selection of clothing, purses and shoes. Downstairs there is more furniture, books and children’s things along with some mens clothing. There was also a nice array of housewares.  I didnt come across any vintage finds this visit, but would recommend this shop as an alternative to the over-crowded outlets any day!

Best Finds: 3 decks of fun playing cards and children’s tin bucket.

We headed back home up north, feeling a little let down that we didnt score some amazing find, but happy that we got to spend a little time exploring some other towns and taking in new scenery along the way. As I’ve mentioned in a recent guest post on Goodwill of Northern New England’s blog, part of thrift shopping is the thrill of the hunt and somedays are better than others. We’re learning to be patient and enjoy the trip.

**Postscript – Sunday while dropping off another donation at our favorite local Goodwill in Rockland, ME, we scored big time! This awesome vintage typewriter table was put out on the sales floor just as we arrived.

Patience paid off…or perhaps it was good karma for making another donation! Have a favorite thrift store, flea market or junk shop? We would love to hear about it and add it to our Tour de Thrift.