Tour de Thrift – Stage 7

 As the summer yard sale season winds down here in Maine we realized it was time to venture out for another stage of  Tour de Thrift. This time we would finally make it all the way down to the big city of Portland and surrounding areas of Falmouth and Gorham.

But before we could even get out of our neighborhood we spotted a Yard Sale sign! We had to stop and check it out.  And of course I found an awesome vintage lamp – I really love yard sales in Maine!

Back on south Route 1 we headed towards our first official stop. We managed to hit a few more yard sales. No big finds but some really cool things to look at. The first official stop on Stage 7 was the Goodwill in Falmouth, ME.

Shop #1
Falmouth Goodwill Store
U.S. Route One
Falmouth Shopping Center
Falmouth, ME 04105
(207) 347-8252
Map
Hours: M- Sat. 9:00am – 8:00pm
Sunday 10:00am- 6:00pm
*Restrooms available

Although this is a small store it was bustling with shoppers who looked like regulars and I can see why. The store had some really nice clothing and accessories. It’s well organized and the large front windows bring in a lot of nice natural light. I found a nice wool sweater jacket and my husband found a very cool vintage General Electric desk clock.

The Falmouth Goodwill store is located in the Falmouth shopping center on route 1, just off 295 ( exit 10). If you need a little treat before or after you shop, there’s a Starbucks cafe across the street.

Shop #2 (Update  June 2017 – New location)
Portland Flea-for-All
585 Congress St,
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 370-7570
Hours: Sat. – Sun. 10:00am – 5:00pm
*Restrooms available

Portland Flea-for-All has been on our list of must visit places in Maine for quite sometime. We really would like to be able to spend more time exploring Portland, so this was a good excuse to visit. The Portland Flea-for-All is reminiscent of big city markets like the Brooklyn flea in NY, with a nicely curated mix of vintage, antiques and craft items. The two story building is comfortable to move around in and has really nice natural light. This is not the typical dark, damp indoor flea some may expect, but instead a festive, bright, hip atmosphere. The vendors were fun, and friendly and willing to share helpful information.

I’m looking forward to visiting again and again! My only wish for my next visit would be the addition of some food and coffee vendors so I wouldn’t have to leave to fuel up.

Shop #3
Portland Architectural Salvage
131 Preble Street Extension
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 780-0634
Map
Hours: Mon.-Sat 10:00am – 5:00pm
Sunday closed

Next store to Portland Flea-for-All is Portland Architectural Salvage. This place has 4 floors of amazing finds, and not just big architectural elements but cool small vintage stuff as well. Although a little pricey for us, we found some very neat pieces, including cameras, industrial wire baskets, light shades and vintage signs. Even if you don’t have a big budget it’s worth checking this place out.The size of this store and the amount of inventory requires a good deal of time to sift through. Some areas are dark so you  may want to bring a flashlight.

Shop #4
South Portland Goodwill Store
555 Maine Mall Road
South Portland, ME 04106
(207) 553-2223
Map
Hours: M- Sat. 9:00am – 9:00pm
Sunday 10:00am- 7:00pm
*Restrooms available

The fourth stop of the day was at the South Portland Goodwill store – which just so happened to be the 10th Goodwill we have visited in Maine! This was a really large store with loads if aisles and racks and racks of inventory. Once again I was awe struck by the shear amount of stuff we all generate.
As usual I looked over the furniture and housewares sections but also stopped and looked at the jam packed pocketbook/purse  and clothing aisles. I was struck by how many young folks I noticed shopping here. Looks like there are a lot of savvy high school and college age shoppers in the Portland area.

I’m not a huge pocketbook type person, but I spotted a cute bag and wondered if it could really be an original Kate Spade? Once home, I did some online research and learned that is was in fact a “Fake” Kate Spade – oh well I still think it’s a cute bag for a few dollars.

Shop #5
Buy the Pound Goodwill Store
34 Hutcherson Drive
Gorham, ME 04106
(207) 887-8470
Map
Hours: M- Sat. 9:00am – 6:00pm
Sunday 9:00am- 5:00pm

Buy the Pound…What can I say but – WOW! When we drove in the parking lot we saw a HUGE  warehouse and thought well, this must be the place! I think my heart actually started to beat a little quicker. This is definitely a different style of thrift shopping and not recommended for the faint of heart, only kidding. The warehouse is a lot of fun if you don’t mind “picking” through rows of bins filled with stuff of all types. There are no neatly organized shelves in sight which was fine by us – we had a blast digging in (like a mini – treasure hunt) and finding a few nice gems, but I can see that this may not be for everyone. If you don’t mind a bit of dust and jumble stop by and have a go at the big blue bins! The prices can’t be beat.

All clothing, accessories, housewares,toys, shoes are priced by the pound –
.5-10 lbs. – $1.49/lb
10.25 – 25 lbs. – $1.29/lb
25.5 – 50 lbs. – $0.99/lb
Over 50 lbs. – $0.79/lb
Paperback books, Coloring books, Calendars – $0.25 each
Dishes/Glassware – $0.49 / lb.
Hardcover books, video tapes, cassette tapes, 8 track tapes – $0.50 each
CDs, Record albums – $1.00 each
DVDs – $2.00 each
Furniture, Appliances and large items – priced individually (when we were there all chairs were $1.00)

We found a neat little deco reverse painted glass tray, a mint condition mid-century slide/movie screen,  3 very cool vintage travel bags and some maritime charts all for a few dollars.

Shop #6
Salvation Army Family Store
30 Warren Avenue
Portland, ME 04103
(800) SA-TRUCK
Map
Hours: M- Sat. ?
Sunday closed

While we were in the Portland area we decided to visit one of the two Salvation Army stores we heard about. I have to first mention that although Salvation Army is a charitable organization and web design and marketing is not their main mission – their lack of information available online drives me a little crazy! Every time I want to find a store or write about a location, I have to search like mad to find the information on their website and when I do find it they list the store locations but have no hours of operation or phone numbers – arrgghhh! Come on SA folks! More shoppers should mean more profit to do your good works. OK enough of my ranting, now back to thrift shopping.
Despite the dreary exterior, we were surprised by the size of the store. The inventory was a little sparse but we found a neat little 8mm movie projector which was 50% off!

Next visit we’ll try our luck at the other Salvation Army location in the downtown area of Portland. If you have any suggestions for places to visit for our next trip down the coast please leave a comment or send us an email – we’d love to hear from you.