I can't figure if this place is for profit or non profit. I'll guess it is a for profit store cause most non profit thrift stores usually have signage saying who they benefit but I see nothing of that kind at Unique Thrift and they want to keep it on down low that they are a for profit business. I must admit that I find the selection of junk quite interesting at Unique Thrift. I collect records and they for some reason get good stuff unlike most of the other thrift stores in the area these days. ( I even get the feeling that the Salvation Army is phasing out records despite being told by several different managers they're not.) I'm not much for buying clothing at thrift stores but that does seem to be the driving force of the 21st century thrift store. Me I don't quite understand the reason for this when many of your discount retail stores have clothing that is new and unlikely to have human staining of any nature. They even sell used underpants at Unique Thrift. Is it even legal to sell used underpants? Who would buy stuff like that? Oh I see, nevermind.

Don't know either if it a non-profit or not. I do know it is run by the Veterans, though

The donations they receive are from the Viet Nam Veterans of America. Whether the buy in bulk for charity and then resell to make a profit or the money in the register goes directly to the vets, I don't know.

The reason that many items are new still with tags is a simple one. You ever get a sweater or a pair of pants as a gift you never wear? There is a saying in the thrift store business that might be of interest to you: "we sell dead mans shoes".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2010 07:01AM by Radiophile.

2 years ago I was hired to work on a hording house. this person was about 300 lb female. she had brand new clothes from woodies, and all this stores that are no longer around. she had bras size 34 b and 34 c . she must have been hot back then. i did ask her if that was her clothes and she told me that it was hers. now she is about 40 DD

I still ain't going to buy no used underpants at that place. As for panties I need to think long and hard, watch it, Don't want no behemoths stained panties. As for females who shop at Unique you do see the occasioanal fetching(that's fetching) lady going crazy over the clothing from time to time. Not something you see at most other thrift stores.

I don't buy underware at Unique but I do buy shorts for work ( 6.00 $ a pair) and books for the grand kids.
I'v bought tools,toys for the kids, cd's dvd's and other stuff.

---------------------------------------------------
W.W.S.D. what would Scooby Doo

graymoose1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't buy underware at Unique but I do buy
> shorts for work ( 6.00 $ a pair) and books for the
> grand kids.
> I'v bought tools,toys for the kids, cd's dvd's
> and other stuff.


underware...wtf?

Unique is massive. It looks real ghetto when you go in because of all the Mexican dealers selling counterfeit handbags. The prices are really high. It is really only worth going on Mondays and Thursdays when the store is 25% off. Yesterday's Rose on Main Street blows it out of the water though. Not only are their prices dirt cheap, but they have a ton of records.

Veterans benefit from that place? I bet they would shit to see all of the illegal immigrants working in there.
There's something very shady about that place. I would think it's owned by some latino making big money on their countrymans cheap labor or a money laudering operation.
I don't see how they can have so many employees, that big of a building in a high rent location and make money selling pure crap.
You ever look in the back and see all of those hopeless looking Marias back there?
I doubt used underwear is legal to sell and used mattresses needed to be treated and cleaned before they can be sold but there they are?

I forgot to add that I can find shoes and boots there in my size(15)

---------------------------------------------------
W.W.S.D. what would Scooby Doo

I went in there one time.

There was this one hispanic girl working there that was really cute.

She kept staring at me the whole time I was in there.

Made me feel really uncomfortable so I left without buying anything.

I am sure most of the girls working there are illegals.

I would stay away from the used underwear, but I bought a perfect suit from a very prestigious Italian designer there for $12. I took it immediately to the dry cleaner and now I get so many compliments on it.

You do have a little buyer beware there but if you know what you are looking for...

A cousin of mine out west is out of work with 4 young boys. I have gone a few times and bought kids clothes there and shipped it off to them. She was amazed at the quality of our thrift stores versus their thrift stores.

Go in there and check out the clientele. With all the young people shopping there - dare I say it is becoming "trendy"?

Radiophile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would stay away from the used underwear, but I
> bought a perfect suit from a very prestigious
> Italian designer there for $12. I took it
> immediately to the dry cleaner and now I get so
> many compliments on it.
>
> You do have a little buyer beware there but if you
> know what you are looking for...
>
> A cousin of mine out west is out of work with 4
> young boys. I have gone a few times and bought
> kids clothes there and shipped it off to them. She
> was amazed at the quality of our thrift stores
> versus their thrift stores.
>
> Go in there and check out the clientele. With all
> the young people shopping there - dare I say it is
> becoming "trendy"?

Yeah because they are all a bunch of fucking hipsters who would rather wear/steal vintage clothing from times past rather than create something new and original.

Last time I checked, being young was all about creating your own identity and not about dressing and looking the same way your parents did when they were your age.

I guarantee you I do not wear the same clothes my parents did when they were my age.

Who said the clothes in there were 20-30 years old? Much of the stuff is pretty late model.

Yeah but the hipsters are looking for the 20-30 year old clothes.

I know a lot of those fuckers.

I went to school with a lot of them.

They go out of their way to make themselves look like they jumped right out of a 1980s high school yearbook.

Don't you guys remember when Bill Clinton got bad press because he gave his underwear to charity and claimed $5.00 per underwear as the value on his tax deducation?

Radiophile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Who said the clothes in there were 20-30 years
> old? Much of the stuff is pretty late model.


This is true.

If you haven't been in there yet, don't hate on it. I was looking through some of the reviews on Yelp and people are finding some pretty high end stuff in there. It's kind of humorous to think Northern Virginia has a THIRFT store that has high end designer items on the racks. Try finding that someplace else.. like WV.

I think there is some connection with the Value Village chain in Maryland. They are supposedly tied to a group called National Childrens Center.

Porksta say,"Yesterday's Rose on Main Street blows it out of the water though. Not only are their prices dirt cheap, but they have a ton of records"
I've been shopping there for must be close to 30 years. Is the grandmammy of thrift stores in these parts I believe. In the days before the salvation army and goodwill developed marketing schemes, which i think just sucks, ever seen the Walmart sized Salvation army store in Manassas, yuck!. Back to Yesterday's Rose, was in there last night and the store seemed a bit low in junk. Can't help but think too much competition has brought about a drop in donations. Also have noticed a lot of the long time stores in same shopping center as Yesterday's Rose have been chased away inthe last few months. Must be a new landlord with a plan. Can't help but wonder if Yesterday's Rose is feeling the pressure to get out. It waw revealed too me what the monthly rent was on that location and it was a hefty 5 figure amount. Asked if they had considered moving in this environment of so many empty storefronts throughout the county but they feel if they move they'd lose their clientele.

I've found quite a few good items there. It was better before they put the swap-meetish area up front.

A few times, I saw a blonde transvestite shopping there. I wouldn't say she was passable.

If you donate things to Unique Thrift Store, they give you a charitable donation form, so I think they'd have to be non-profit to do that.

Also, take a peek in the back of the store sometime, there are bales of clothes all bound together, maybe they are shipping them off somewhere and making money that way?

Also, I have to take issue with the pricing of things - it's extremely inconsistent. It's like they're back there throwing darts at a dartboard to decide how to price things. One crappy t-shirt is $0.99 and the next one is $5 for no apparent reason.

They can make more money if they attach pic of cute girl to each used pantie.

"...Also, I have to take issue with the pricing of things - it's extremely inconsistent."

Agreed. It all has to do with which undereducated Latino is working on the items. I got a wonderful Marantz receiver for under $20 while garbage Radio Shack brand were priced the same. On the other hand, I have seen Pentium 1 laptops priced over $150 and some suckers end up buying them.

Trust me, if it wasn't for those 'suckers' buying Pentiums for $150, then our state of the economy would be so much worse. But man you can get some really nice shit at a trift store, at least the ones located in the ghettos. For example, a couple weeks ago I picked up a original Lochheed Martin 1980s photo of an SR71 BlackBird framed for 60 CENTS! And about two hundred dollars of childrens books with the cool sounds buttons and stuff, in brand new condition for less than ten dollars. My buddy picked up a 300 dollar powerwheels for $20 because te manager gave him 50% off because I noticed therw was no charger for the battery. He used to just borrow my charger for my kids powerwheels whenever his ran low, although we recently saw a charger at that location for 5 dollars he he doesn't borrow mine anymore.

Jeff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "...Also, I have to take issue with the pricing of
> things - it's extremely inconsistent."
>
> Agreed. It all has to do with which undereducated
> Latino is working on the items. I got a wonderful
> Marantz receiver for under $20 while garbage Radio
> Shack brand were priced the same. On the other
> hand, I have seen Pentium 1 laptops priced over
> $150 and some suckers end up buying them.


Not really. If you see a Ralph Lauren sport coat, they can look it up in the thrift store pricing database and go from there. The unusual items they have a hard time pricing.

Check out the sweaters, looking for sweaters made in Ireland, Scotland or hand made in Italy. These are not in the pricing and they have no idea. This is where the bargains are.

Thousands in Counterfeit Merchandise Seized http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/news-releases/2010/080410counterfeitgoodsseized.htm

Fairfax County Police Department
Public Information Office
4100 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, Va. 22030
703-246-2253. TTY 703-204-2264. Fax 703-246-4253
FCPD-PIO@fairfaxcounty.gov
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police
News Release: 10//drg(3)
August 4, 2010


Thousands in Counterfeit Merchandise Seized

McLean Police District – A joint investigation between the Fairfax County Police Department, the United States Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Blazer Investigations, led to the seizure of an estimated $841 thousand dollars of counterfeit merchandise.

In December of 2009, a citizen complained of fraudulent goods being sold from booths inside the “Unique Thrift Store” located in the 2900 block of Gallows Road; Fairfax County Police launched an undercover investigation.

Multiple search warrants were executed and counterfeit goods representing at least 20 well known, designer, brand name manufacturers were seized. Those items include “knock off” Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Timberland, Rolex, Coach, Nike, Lacoste, Prada, Chanel, and many others. The types of merchandise include shoes, boots, purses, sunglasses, jewelry, coats, shirts, pants, perfume, DVDs, CDs and more.

Police determined that this merchandise was manufactured and shipped from China. Specialists working for Blazer Investigations verified that the merchandise was crafted using sub-standard materials and was in fact counterfeit. The items were manufactured and shipped without identifying labels. Once inside the United States, labels, tags and other recognizable emblems were affixed to the goods prior to sale.

The sale of counterfeit merchandise is a violation of state and federal law.

Anyone with information about counterfeit merchandise, or those who believe they might have purchased similar items is asked to contact Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477, e-mail at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637 or call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.
Attachments:

That would explain the empty Coach booth in the swap meet area. Haha! I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.

I'm glad they cleared out those counterfeit sellers. as for pricing, I tend to see it worse on electronics. not even half those pricers in the back probably know the difference from a router to a toaster. Ive gotten some great steals on electronics there, while some were outrageous. One time I planned to pick up a router I saw for 9.00 and the price was smudged a bit (stupid crayons they use) I was in line and the cashier asked a manager and he said it couldnt be sold. never saw it again.

So were the county cops who were hired by Unique for security purposes checking for counterfeit shit at the same time?

wally pip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So were the county cops who were hired by Unique
> for security purposes checking for counterfeit
> shit at the same time?


I was thinking the same thing. They had to know.

So this Rolex Daytona I bought from them is fake?

/facepalm

My spouse is a VietNam Vet, and I know for a fact that the VietNam Veterans of Northern Virginia receives a check quarterly from this Unique Thrift location.

Any truth to rumor that unique is closing? Something about that shopping center being demoed to be part of mosaic?

thrift shopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My spouse is a VietNam Vet, and I know for a fact
> that the VietNam Veterans of Northern Virginia
> receives a check quarterly from this Unique Thrift
> location.


Birds of a feather......

Unique is for profit. It is part of Apogee Retail. They buy donations from charities and sell them in their thrift stores. It is not clear, but many have said that the charities are on the losing end of these transactions.

Unique/Apogee are also WELL known for mistreating their employees. In one case, they fired someone for not stapling properly (!). They not only tried to deny that person unemployment, but said that person should be ineligible for unemployment.

The Unique/Apogee person did not attend the unemployment hearing. They said it was because there was a fire alarm. The problem was that the fire alarm was HOURS before the hearing. Since they did not show up, the person got their unemployment. Unique/Apogee tried to re-open the case, but the Virginia Employment Commission said no, and wrote them a letter of reprimand.

The place should be closed down.

hambone 3 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I still ain't going to buy no used underpants at
> that place. As for panties I need to think long
> and hard, watch it, Don't want no behemoths
> stained panties. As for females who shop at
> Unique you do see the occasioanal fetching(that's
> fetching) lady going crazy over the clothing from
> time to time. Not something you see at most other
> thrift stores.


Stained panties go for good money on CL.

They changed charities last month.
I did the sign work.
They are connected with savers in Woodbridge.
The new charity is Virginka special olympics.

Now you know

Poor kid wearing used underpants Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any truth to rumor that unique is closing?
> Something about that shopping center being demoed
> to be part of mosaic?


At the very least they will need to find a new home:

Retail Properties of America Inc. (NYSE: RPAI), owner of the Merrifield Town Center adjacent to Mosaic District, has paid $45.7 million for Merrifield II, an 8.2-acre property at 2960 Gallows Road. The property's existing tenants include Gold's Gym, Great Wall Supermarket, Unique Thrift Store and a CubeSmart self-storage facility.

The new owner plans to redevelop Merrifield II into a mixed-use project that will be integrated with Merrifield Town Center and complement Edens' Mosaic.

Cunt at work shops there, makes 77k a year and wears shit. Hate the crazy cunt patsy works for mwaa.

I saw a $500 Nordic Trak in good shape there for 25 bucks. Lots of crap but some good stuff too.

The most versatile gun powder for loading all kinds of pistol ammo 380, 38's, 9's, 40 , 44, 45.

And the Thrift Store is a Deal too. Love the place. Just Wish they had a better selection of CCW holsters that did not work out...Reloading equipment..

DAJAX

Their primary benefactor is Vietnam Veterans of America

The primary benefactor is Virginia Special Olympics.

I did the sign change over myself.

> They not only tried to deny that person unemployment, but said that person should > be ineligible for unemployment.

you have to work 2 years for un-employment, the retailer has to put special tax money toward it at the 2 year mark

that's why the politically rich in fx co area have insured people are fired before the 2 year mark

also: if you try to collect unemployment you'll quickly find it's being stolen by fx co gov. they will deny it though owed though you try several official predictable channels to apply / get it.

your story is full of crap - no one gets unemployment in VA after a short term of work in which they could not use a simple thing such as a stapler

no such thing - tired of your communist stories making it appear that fairfax was and is something it never was

The primary beneficiaries are the greedy bastards who own the store. They may give a small pittance of their profits to a charity, but it's almost nothing - its just so they can put the name of a charity somewhere and fool many into thinking they're do-gooders.

Unique Is Great! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The most versatile gun powder for loading all
> kinds of pistol ammo 380, 38's, 9's, 40 , 44, 45.
>
> And the Thrift Store is a Deal too. Love the
> place. Just Wish they had a better selection of
> CCW holsters that did not work out...Reloading
> equipment..
>
> DAJAX


You're kidding right?
Thrift store selling reloaders and accessories? -- I should check em out.

by the way What does DAJAX mean?