 |
| Southern Ontario |
 |
| Most of Ontario |
Friday 27 January 2017
Ontario
The biggest province. Here is a map representing where non-profit and charity thrift shops are located. I am sure I am still missing a few.
Sunday 22 January 2017
Value VIllage III
This time, from the manager of a non-profit in Barrie, Ontario after the collapse of the local Goodwill chapter in Toronto
You may also be aware that Value Village operates for profit and it has been purported that only about 11% of the funds generated from donations actually goes to the charities they support. I have asked them to disclose what % of revenue from donations goes to the charities and because they are a private company owned by a billionaire and private equity firms in the U.S. they do not have to legally disclose this information and I never received a reply.
I have a better idea for those donating their items. I am working on one of my remaining bucket list items which is opening a location on weekends ideally in the downtown Barrie area called “Give and Get”. I have been told by many that although there are resources available during the week, there is virtually nothing on weekendswww.facebook.com/GlowingHeartsCommunityGiveandGet
Finding new shops on Facebook
I don't use Facebook other than for receiving news on thrift shop which are using them instead of maintaining a web page. Using the suggested page function, I have come cross thrift shops that have managed to elude my searches.
A new one found just today is the One Love International Society which operates a shop on Imperial Avenue in Burnaby.
A new one found just today is the One Love International Society which operates a shop on Imperial Avenue in Burnaby.
Sunday 15 January 2017
What do you call a Thrift shop in French?
So what is a thrift shop called in French? Or maybe more specifically Québecois French? It would seem there are many terms and names and there is no direct equivalent in English.
A magasin d'occasion is a continental French term for store (magasin) selling used items but it could be a for-profit store. The term is not used in the title of stores in Québec. Of course, the stores alluding to selling higher-end items call themselves a boutique.
A comptoir is another name, perhaps the most common, for thrift store and most are called comptoir familial (family store), comptoir d'entraide (store of mutual assistance) or comptoir communautaire (community store). Unless you are desperately poor and needy,, do not go to one that is a comptoir alimentaire as this is a food bank. One also sees the adjective partage (e.g., comptoir du partage) which means a sharing shop. Grenier (attic) is also used though vide grenier, the French term for garage (or attic) sale doesn't seem to be used as much. Bazar is also a term used for a used-goods store.
Magasin d'aubaine is a bargain store literally, but this is probably more like a "dollar" store.
A friperie is an used clothes store which could be non as well as for profit. Vestiaire seems to be used too but apparently in a charitable sense especially by churches. Vestimentaire is an adjective use for clothing. Chiffon (cloth) and chiffoneries (cloth stores) are also terms and names used.
There are also resourceries or ressourceres which appear to municipal operations that recycle discarded items which are resold.
Sans but lucratif is not for profit.
As for names familiar in the rest of Canada, Armée du Salut is the Salvation Army. Goodwill Industries is called Renaissance and Habitat for Humanity is Habitat pour l'humanité.
A magasin d'occasion is a continental French term for store (magasin) selling used items but it could be a for-profit store. The term is not used in the title of stores in Québec. Of course, the stores alluding to selling higher-end items call themselves a boutique.
A comptoir is another name, perhaps the most common, for thrift store and most are called comptoir familial (family store), comptoir d'entraide (store of mutual assistance) or comptoir communautaire (community store). Unless you are desperately poor and needy,, do not go to one that is a comptoir alimentaire as this is a food bank. One also sees the adjective partage (e.g., comptoir du partage) which means a sharing shop. Grenier (attic) is also used though vide grenier, the French term for garage (or attic) sale doesn't seem to be used as much. Bazar is also a term used for a used-goods store.
Magasin d'aubaine is a bargain store literally, but this is probably more like a "dollar" store.
A friperie is an used clothes store which could be non as well as for profit. Vestiaire seems to be used too but apparently in a charitable sense especially by churches. Vestimentaire is an adjective use for clothing. Chiffon (cloth) and chiffoneries (cloth stores) are also terms and names used.
There are also resourceries or ressourceres which appear to municipal operations that recycle discarded items which are resold.
Sans but lucratif is not for profit.
As for names familiar in the rest of Canada, Armée du Salut is the Salvation Army. Goodwill Industries is called Renaissance and Habitat for Humanity is Habitat pour l'humanité.
Wednesday 11 January 2017
Thrift shops in the rest of Canada
We've been entertaining the idea of a trip to Québec and returning by RV (to carry the loot) - an idea that is now coming into fruition.
To that end, I have been researching and cataloging thrift shops in the rest of the country. One starts with the usual suspects such as the Salvation Army, MCC, Bibles for Missions and Habitat for Humanity. There is also of course the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
I've found a few organisations that operate in one part of the country but not others. Here are a few interesting ones.
Goodwill Industries - part of the U.S. umbrella organisation - has many chapters in Ontario, and a few in Alberta and Manitoba.
The wife of a Governor-General formed charity called May Court and quite a few chapters exist, not least in Ottawa. The focus seems to be on high-end women's clothing and it would appear many operated non-profit consignment shops originally but many have changed to thrift shops.
I would have expected there would be more IODE thrift shops but there's only one in Ontario so B.C. has 3x s many.
Québec is more challenging as one has to find terms for non-profit and charity shops without getting all sorts of commercial listings. There seem to be a small number operating under the umbrella of The United Way.
If you need to ask, the database for Ontario is almost as big as the rest of the country.
To that end, I have been researching and cataloging thrift shops in the rest of the country. One starts with the usual suspects such as the Salvation Army, MCC, Bibles for Missions and Habitat for Humanity. There is also of course the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
I've found a few organisations that operate in one part of the country but not others. Here are a few interesting ones.
Goodwill Industries - part of the U.S. umbrella organisation - has many chapters in Ontario, and a few in Alberta and Manitoba.
The wife of a Governor-General formed charity called May Court and quite a few chapters exist, not least in Ottawa. The focus seems to be on high-end women's clothing and it would appear many operated non-profit consignment shops originally but many have changed to thrift shops.
I would have expected there would be more IODE thrift shops but there's only one in Ontario so B.C. has 3x s many.
Québec is more challenging as one has to find terms for non-profit and charity shops without getting all sorts of commercial listings. There seem to be a small number operating under the umbrella of The United Way.
If you need to ask, the database for Ontario is almost as big as the rest of the country.
Wednesday 4 January 2017
How did we get started and how do we keep track?
How did we get started on this list? In 2013, we sold our house in Vancouver and spent the rest of the summer in Powell River before heading to France. Our rental was a bit short of equipment so we took to thrift shopping to meet our requirements without paying too much. Even if one wanted to buy new items in Powell River, retail options are very limited. The MCC and health care auxiliaries, conveniently located virtually adjacent to each other, are popular local institutions as a result. I found my first Watkins pie plate here and came to a realisation that people do evidently discard nice, quality items.
At the time, we were using (and still use) a mapping programme published by Microsoft called Streets 'n Trips which I use to plot locations only at first and then adding addresses, opening times, websites and phone number informations when I started this blog. Not only does this give you a zoomable map of the whole continent (Canada and U.S. anyway) but by hooking up a GPS receiver, it lets you know exactly where you are. Unlike a phone GPS, you can explore what else is around and plot routes of your own rather than being blindly directed as to which direction to go as dictated by the navigation app of your choice. A 17" screen is also vastly-preferable to a 5" one. I can export the locations into a GPX file (an industry standard) which can be imported by GPS units (but not by, as far as I am aware, smart phones).
Unfortunately Microsoft - unaware (or perhaps not) that Bing, its appointed heir for smart phones, is a poor replacement - chose to discontinue Streets 'n Trips and Autoroute, its European counterpart, a couple of years ago. One may be able to find these as downloads.
At the time, we were using (and still use) a mapping programme published by Microsoft called Streets 'n Trips which I use to plot locations only at first and then adding addresses, opening times, websites and phone number informations when I started this blog. Not only does this give you a zoomable map of the whole continent (Canada and U.S. anyway) but by hooking up a GPS receiver, it lets you know exactly where you are. Unlike a phone GPS, you can explore what else is around and plot routes of your own rather than being blindly directed as to which direction to go as dictated by the navigation app of your choice. A 17" screen is also vastly-preferable to a 5" one. I can export the locations into a GPX file (an industry standard) which can be imported by GPS units (but not by, as far as I am aware, smart phones).
Unfortunately Microsoft - unaware (or perhaps not) that Bing, its appointed heir for smart phones, is a poor replacement - chose to discontinue Streets 'n Trips and Autoroute, its European counterpart, a couple of years ago. One may be able to find these as downloads.
If you're looking for listings of B.C. thrift shops...
In case you are looking for a list of B.C. non-profit thrift shops, they're here but finding them may be a bit difficult Either look for the post entitled "my master list.." or some such, or look at the Pages menu on the top left of the web page. It has my list by region.
Decentralisation of national organisations
One issue that does bother me a bit is the decentralised nature of national organisations that operate thrift shops.
Example 1
If one visits the Salvation Army site (thriftstore.ca), one is provided with a list of provinces. Clicking in, one will ostensibly see a list of shops. If you weren't already aware, a huge number of thrift shops are missing. The Salvation Army in B.C. only lists shops on Vancouver Island south of Mill Bay (missing out 9 in Duncan, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Comox-Courtenay and Campbell River) and west of Langley in the Lower Mainland, thus missing easily over a dozen from Aldergrove to the Alberta border. The Salvation Army also has listings for Central Ontario (i.e., southern Ontario) and Ottawa-Thunder Bay. The Ottawa-Thunder Bay division does not list SA thrift shops in at least North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Kenora, Timmins and Dryden.
Example 2
For other primarily-religious charities such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, you have to look at each regional chapter. Another would be the United Church. A fair number of churches operate thrift shops but each parish has its own and there is no regional or provincial, let alone national listing.
Example 3
Bibles for Missions has many stores, almost all listed on its website. Unfathomably, the Abbotsford (for those not familiar with the town, it is the arguable heart of B.C.'s bible belt) shop is not on that list. There was a reason (I asked) as to why but I forgot. A schism?
Example 1
If one visits the Salvation Army site (thriftstore.ca), one is provided with a list of provinces. Clicking in, one will ostensibly see a list of shops. If you weren't already aware, a huge number of thrift shops are missing. The Salvation Army in B.C. only lists shops on Vancouver Island south of Mill Bay (missing out 9 in Duncan, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Comox-Courtenay and Campbell River) and west of Langley in the Lower Mainland, thus missing easily over a dozen from Aldergrove to the Alberta border. The Salvation Army also has listings for Central Ontario (i.e., southern Ontario) and Ottawa-Thunder Bay. The Ottawa-Thunder Bay division does not list SA thrift shops in at least North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Kenora, Timmins and Dryden.
Example 2
For other primarily-religious charities such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, you have to look at each regional chapter. Another would be the United Church. A fair number of churches operate thrift shops but each parish has its own and there is no regional or provincial, let alone national listing.
Example 3
Bibles for Missions has many stores, almost all listed on its website. Unfathomably, the Abbotsford (for those not familiar with the town, it is the arguable heart of B.C.'s bible belt) shop is not on that list. There was a reason (I asked) as to why but I forgot. A schism?
What about the rest of Canada?
As someone who habitually does not leave one extreme corner of Canada, I remain unaware of thrift shops in other provinces. By chance, a possible RV trip across part of the country may change that. I have been doing some research and here's a breakdown.
In western Canada, the Mennonite Central Committee is strong, with the largest presence - naturally - in Manitoba. WorldServe also has a couple of shops in Calgary and one in Saskatoon. Bibles for Missions also has a large presence throughout anglo Canada, as does the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army does have a small presence in Québec limited to Montréal.
Being a primarily Catholic country (nearly 40% of the country, down from ~50% 30+ years ago), there are Catholic charities that operate thrift shops, Almost all are Society of St. Vincent de Paul which is particularly strong in Québec, Ontario, and of course has a small presence around Victoria and Vancouver. In addition, Emmaus - an organisation we became aware of on an extended trip to rural France, also has a presence in Québec.
I am sure there are lots of Habitats for Humanity ReStores (which only occurred to me as an organisation that spans provincial boundaries) too. United and Anglican churches, health care auxiliaries, women's shelters, and other charities must be present too but they're likely to be local and decentralised.
In western Canada, the Mennonite Central Committee is strong, with the largest presence - naturally - in Manitoba. WorldServe also has a couple of shops in Calgary and one in Saskatoon. Bibles for Missions also has a large presence throughout anglo Canada, as does the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army does have a small presence in Québec limited to Montréal.
Being a primarily Catholic country (nearly 40% of the country, down from ~50% 30+ years ago), there are Catholic charities that operate thrift shops, Almost all are Society of St. Vincent de Paul which is particularly strong in Québec, Ontario, and of course has a small presence around Victoria and Vancouver. In addition, Emmaus - an organisation we became aware of on an extended trip to rural France, also has a presence in Québec.
I am sure there are lots of Habitats for Humanity ReStores (which only occurred to me as an organisation that spans provincial boundaries) too. United and Anglican churches, health care auxiliaries, women's shelters, and other charities must be present too but they're likely to be local and decentralised.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)