As the holiday season draws near, it can be difficult to find the perfect present for friends and family when shopping on a college student’s budget.
Shuffling through the sale racks of major retail stores only to settle on a scarf or candle feels tiresome and impersonal. To step up the gift-giving game this year and find one-of-a-kind gifts, thrift stores are the way to go. Here are three of the best thrift stores in the Norman area to should check out this holiday season:
Christmas shopping is hard when your mom deserves an island and you can afford a candle
— College Student (@ColIegeStudent) December 24, 2014
Donate a Miracle Thrift Store & Boutique
Topping the list for the best thrift store in the Norman area is Donate a Miracle Thrift Store & Boutique. Located on the corner of Alameda and Porter, Donate a Miracle is only eight minutes from campus and offers the most unique thrifting experience in Norman. The two-story thrift store offers a wide selection of furniture, clothes, books, movies, kitchenware and more. Store owner Lyz Farrar describes Donate a Miracle as “a thrift store, but more set up like a boutique.”
All students and faculty can show their university ID for 10 percent off the entire purchase.
The store has two “25 cent rooms” where everything is only 25 cents.
All clothes sell for the set price of $2, except for formal wear and jeans which are all $4.
All paperback books, DVDs and records are 25 cents and all hardback books are $1.
The store is large enough that each room is devoted to one category, such as the children’s room, making it less stressful to find items in a timely manner.
Donate a Miracle Thrift Store & Boutique is located at 315 Alameda St. It is open from noon to 7 p.m. on Monday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and is closed Sunday.
2. Outreach Thrift Store
Outreach, a locally owned and operated thrift store, partners with roughly 20 agencies and churches around Norman to provide clothing for those in need. The clients from these partnerships “get to come in and shop completely for free," said Jessica Dupler, an employee at Outreach. "They don’t have to pay for any goods — that way, they can have their needs met.”
Outreach recycles all of the items donated to them that are not sellable rather than simply throwing them away.
On Thursdays, customers can fill an entire shopping bag for $1.
Clothing is tagged with different colors, and the featured tag color of the day is always 50 percent off.
There are separate sections for vintage clothing and newer name brand clothes, so it’s easy to find a desired style.
Outreach Thrift Store is located at 621 12th Ave. NE, Suite 130 in the strip center in front of Walmart. It is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
3. Thrift Nation
Three years ago, Lynda and Dallas Spann founded Thrift Nation, a local thrift store that mostly sells furniture and antiques. The couple are estate liquidators who donate weekly to local Christian congregations so they “know where the money goes and can keep it in the local community,” Dallas Spann said. “(Local churches) do good work, and we really to concentrate on smaller churches because they need more help.”
Their niche is finding and selling one-of-a-kind antiques, collectables, keepsakes and vintage furniture.
Thrift Nation offers 50 percent off clothing purchases every Wednesday.
Thrift Nation has special in-store daily deals.
Thrift Nation has donated to over 25 local churches and strives to help the Norman community.
Thrift Nation is located at 516 W. Main St. It recently moved from its former Lindsey location at the end of September. Thrift Nation's hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and is closed on Sunday.
Some other great local thrift stores worth checking out include:
Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity ReStore, at 1100 W. Main St., Suite 100
Robinson's Repurposed an Eclectic Market Place, at 325 E. Main St.
The Salvation Army Family Store & Donation Center, at 1742 W. Lindsey St.
Nu-N-Nuf, at 602 N. Findlay Ave.
Goodwill Store and Attended Donation Center, at 151 SE 12th Ave.
