Renovation closures in Kelowna

Thrift shops also go under renovations, to expand or sometimes to shrink.  We've seen a Salvation Army store on Vancouver Island shrink.  Today, we went to a Bibles for Missions shop in Kelowna which had, unfortunately, just closed for a long, 2 month + renovation.  Hopefully there'll be more floor space.

The MCC shop in Rutland took over the space of an adjacent tattoo parlour to add more space for furniture and apparently managed to stay open.

East Vancouver - Wilson Heights United Church

Though I used to live mere blocks away, I wasn't aware of the thrift sale (not shop) at the Wilson Heights United Church at 41st Avenue @ Bruce Street. Opening days are very periodic, just on the last Saturday of the month.  The wares are only brought out for the day and set up on tables, and packed away after.  There is a small back closet that seems to hold the bulk of the housewares.  Prices seem a bit high which is seemingly normal for Vancouver.


Listing of lower mainland thrift shops north of the Fraser river
http://bcthriftshop.blogspot.ca/p/burrard-peninsula.html

South Coquitlam

Coquitlam proper seems to be lacking in thrift shops, the only one I've ever visited in the municipality being up in the north.

Two in the southern part, along Austin Heights came to my attention (near Maillardville if you ever wanted to know where it is). 

The more interesting of the two is the Como Lake United Church at 535 Marmont Street, open just two day a week, Tuesday 09-13 and Saturday 09-12.   The shop is in the basement of the church and is on the smaller side, though seemingly average for a church thrift shop.  It has mostly clothing but quite a few housewares and collectibles too. Prices seem a little high though.

The other shop, around the corner at 1206 Ridgeway Avenue, is the Joy thrift shop.  I haven't been able to find out too much about this one except it is Korean so a lot of the offerings are Korean or Korean-oriented.  Nothing interesting so I didn't see what pricing was like.




List of lower mainland thrift shops north of the Fraser river.
http://bcthriftshop.blogspot.ca/p/burrard-peninsula.html

New Westminster - Kerry's Boutique

Headed out to East Columbia today to visit the Royal Columbian Hospital auxiliary thrift shop, which unfortunately didn't have anything new and interesting.  I did learn of a new thrift shop a bit further up the road.  Just south of the intersection with Braid is Kerry's Boutique, a thrift shop raising money to help families with young children dealing with grief.  It's a small shop with mainly clothing and very few housewares, collectibles and furniture.  Very nicely laid out and bright.

http://campkerrysociety.org/kerrys-boutique/

South Burnaby - South Burnaby United Church and One Love

We had a chance to visit a couple of thrift shops in south Burnaby that we haven't visited before.

The first is OneLove on Imperial at Jubilee.  This shop is first and foremost a skateboard shop (there's a skate park across Jubilee) but in the back is a small thrift shop offering mostly clothing and very few housewares.  It assists youth and low-income families.
http://www.onelovesociety.com/

One Love

The second thrift shop is the South Burnaby United Church whose thrift shop - located in the basement - is only open from 10-14 on Thursdays.  It is a smaller medium-sized shop which has a lot of clothes and housewares.  Prices seem to be very reasonable.  Staffed by friendly volunteers.

South Burnaby United Church

http://sbuc.ca/calendar/


List of Lower Mainland thrift shops north of the Fraser River (except North Shore)
http://bcthriftshop.blogspot.ca/p/burrard-peninsula.html

A "new" shop in Newton / Surrey - God's Love

We made a visit to Surrey to visit the thrift stores in the north/central/east part of the city.  One of the thrift shops we visited last year, and amazingly is still there, is God's Love at 7360 137 St in the Newton neighbourhood, close to the Surrey Hospice an Firefighter's shop and the Salvation Army.

It's a small shop so selection may be limited.  It claims 1/2 the profits go to the Surrey hospital.

List of Lower Mainland thrift shops south of the FraSer river
http://bcthriftshop.blogspot.ca/p/blog-page_3.html

Mission - Mission hospital auxiliary and Fronya

Made a trip out to Mission to find a new housesit and passed by some old favorite shops and check out a few new-to-us ones.

The big news is that the Salvation Army has closed its shop in Mission in September last year with no replacement.  The MCC is still nearby.

MCC Mission

Cottage Thrift - Mission HA

On 1st Avenue in old Mission on either side of Welton are two thrift shops,   On the east side of Welton on the south side of 1st is the Cottage Thrift Store of Mission Hospital Auxiliary which has a surprisingly large housewares and collectibles section.  Medium size store with very reasonable prices and run by friendly volunteers.

Fronya - Mission

On the north side of 1st and on the west side of Welton is the Fronya shop which assists women in transition.  It stocks only clothing and accessories in a small boutique.

Back in the Lower Mainland - The Attic and WESN in Vancouver's West End

We left Victoria earlier in the week, and had time to visit a United Church thrift shop in the far reaches of northern Saanich.  Interesting to see meditative yoga being done out in the open.

Going through Delta, we stopped at the usual shops, the Delta Hospice and DYSL in Tsawwassen (the new mall, or any mall, has absolutely no appeal for me these days) and the  Hospital store in Ladner.  Swinging by east Van to drop off some things for a friend, we stopped by the east Van SPCA, and even had time to visit the Wildlife store at the foot of Granville in downtown.

The next day, we stopped by the Salvation Army in Marpole which was fruitful, and then went down to the SOS Children's and Hospital shops in Steveston.  The latter is following the example of its kin in Ladner and having periodic collectibles sales - now once a quarter rather than semi annually as they get so much.  We went to visit the two SPCA shops but found that the one on Alderbridge Way (very poorly located, so poorly I couldn't find it last summer despite having seen it from the main road) has closed since last year.  The Minoru Blvd one is still there and just as messy as usual.

Back to Vancouver, we made sure the MCC was still on Fraser.

Attic on Davie

Had a walk through the west end and have 3 (well 2) stores to report on.  The Gordon Neighbourhood House operates The Attic.  One is located on Broughton just north of Comox in the community centre but unfortunately it was closed today for an exceptional reason.  The other is on the south side of Davie between Broughton and Jervis.  This one is a small shop with good prices for Vancouver.  Just a bit of everything but no furniture.

Attic on Broughton

Gordon Neighbourhood House on Broughton

The other one, that I couldn't visit due to parking issues (or rather lack of) is the West End Seniors Network store in the mall on Denman and Comox.  It is a tiny store but is very busy.

West End Seniors Network thrift store

Victoria

We left the Cowichan Valley on Sunday, no thrift shops being open, to return to the lower mainland. A couple of days' pet-less respite while we were in Victoria to visit the usual shops (alas the unusual ones - mainly church-based ones that I have yet to visit - were not open) in the Saanich peninsula.

We did find a few things though it required driving back quite a ways (almost defeats the purpose of thrift) as some do not have the same opening hours as their kin.

Cashing in

We made our final trip to Duncan on Thursday and the the recycling facility taking in all the empties I've collected for the past 9 or so weeks while dog walking.  Came up to a grand total of some $12, though I've since found another 25 cents.  These proceeds will likely be spent at a WIN or Beacon in Victoria on Sunday.

The count of cans between Lucky and all other alcoholic beverages was indeed just about a 50-50 split.