Assistance League of Boise

Hands down, this is my new favorite thrift store. My friend told me about it, and when I was in town I stopped by for a visit. The second I walked in the door, I was greeted by a grinning group of women-all who looked like they were having the time of their lives working here (how can I get in on that fun?!) One of the kind women welcomed me and explained some specials that the store was hosting that day. I grabbed a cart-I knew I was in for it.

I browsed the clothing aisles and found several gems. I appreciate that everything is so clean-often, thrift stores have an odor, but it was noticeably absent here. The clothing appeared to be higher quality than I've seen in other second hand stores too.

Beyond clothing, they also have household goods, seasonal décor, kitchen stuff, etc. I browsed those items briefly, but it was the clothing that got me. I left with several cute new-to-me outfits that I'm excited to wear. The prices were very reasonable, too!

Every time I come to Boise, I'll make sure I plan a trip out to my new favorite thrift store.

The Assistance League (501(c)3 non profit) runs this well managed thrift store selling home goods, clothing and other items as their main source of funding for their good works. Probably best known of those is Operation School Bell in which they take shopping children from grade school through teen years for new clothes who are in life circumstances which mean new clothes are not always possible. They also run a program called Cinderella's Closet which helps teens who might not otherwise be able to afford clothing for prom to obtain it. Assistance Leagues across the US, there are roughly 70 chapters, are primarily populated by women who are mostly middle aged and older. So it made me angry, and that is the right verb, to read a recent Yelp review written by a younger man who talked about this being a store "for old ladies" and the staff there "old bitties". When did ageism and gender bias become perceived to be funny or useful on Yelp. Shame on him. I might even say I was pissed off at his description of the volunteers there but given I am probably in the age group he considers "old bittie", I'll try to behave myself and say his language made me angry rather than tie up my orthopedic shoes to kick him in the proverbial arse.

THE SHOP: I have never been a thrift store shopper, I don't have the knack, even in stores like this where some of the good quality items look barely used or may even still have their original merchandise tags on them. As a person who donates those kinds of things myself, I appreciate donating them to a place like this where the people working there take care too for the clean and well organized, well merchandised display of items for sale. You may pay a little more as a shopper for these things, this is not the "we'll take anything" approach of some thrift stores, but you are also getting a very good bargain for the prices given the quality.

MISTLETOE HOUSE TIME: All that as preamble, this is a Ho-Ho-Holiday timely Yelp posting too as Assistance League is running their annual Holiday sales event called Mistletoe House on November 25 & 26 and again on November 30 - December 3, all from 10a to 4p at which they will have holiday items and home decor for sale.

TO DONATE ITEMS TO THRIFT SHOP: You can find 'how to' information about that here: https://www.assistanceleague.org/boise/thrift-shop/#TS-Donations

PARKING & ACCESSIBILITY: The location has it's own small parking lot. It includes ADA compliant parking. There is an accessible route to the door.

CAREFUL MAKING THE LEFT TURN INTO PARKING LOT: If you're heading the direction on Glenwood where you need to make a left turn across it to get into the parking lot, heads up! The traffic is wicked bad at times.

Another place I've been wanting to check out but in my years in my current neighborhood, I'd always go to Ricochet next door, but never this place.
This place has weird hours and I think too it's mostly a thrift store for little old ladies. They have a mens section, but it's literally the size of a shoebox. Stores, whether regular box stores, boutiques, thrift stores etc...they all seem to forget that men like to wear clothes and they forget that we kinda have to. I learned that the hard way hahaha!

Luckily for me, when I went in here it was to look for womens clothes lol. Halloween! I dressed as Stevie Nicks and was looking for items to capture her essence lol.
I was looking at womens clothes the entire time and I think all the little old lady employees were thinking...fk..another one here for womens clothes hahaha!
I didn't find anything, but the store is actually kinda great...even with the mens section being so small that if you blink you won't see it lol.
This place is great for women and they have some home type stuff too so the store can easily appeal to anyone. Prices are kinda high for a thrift store, but Boise, even more so lately sees itself as a small Portland. Top that with the bang up job our government is doing with controlling inflation and BAM! You have overpriced THRIFT. STORES. Hahaha!
Should you stay away because of that?
Absolutely not! This store is super homey and even if the old bitties are weirded out by a guy thumbing through the ladies section in 2022! "geT wOKe, lAdIeS!" Hahaha! But even if they SEEM weirded out, I should say, they most likely don't actually care and are probably used to it & especially with all the people moving here...still go! It's a great store. Small, but tons of shit to check out. Homey little store and when they're homey, that's a big plus in my book!

Thanks, Yelpthrifters!

Cheers!

Dad & I enjoy visiting this thrift shop as often as we can. We love so many things about it!

* It's clean and well-organized.
* The volunteers who staff the store are friendly and engaging.
* The merchandise, which includes clothing, accessories, books, and household goods, is in good condition. No raggedy, stained t-shirts here!
* Plenty of parking.
* Nice shopping carts.

If I could change one thing, it would be their hours of operation. It would be great if I could swing by after work sometimes. Alas, they are only open until 4:00 p.m.

Hot tip: If you're a thrifter, be sure to sign up for their weekly e-mails so you know what categories/departments are on sale.

This is a really cute thrift store that is organized well and has great people working here! They have clothes and shoes for men, women, and children! All of the clothes and shoes here look like they are in great condition. The curation of items are of the best quality. The Jewelry selection is great here too, they have a few things in glass cases that you ask for assistance for but once again the service here is great and everyone is so happy to help!
The book selection here is really cool, they even have whole sets of book collections for sale! I really enjoyed the kitchenware section that I believe they call ~ domestics. I got a really beautiful little crystal plate for $1.
My favorite part of my experience here was checking out with a picnic basket and everyone at the counter in awe of my find -- "$10 for a picnic set?!" - it was adorable!

I have always liked this shop. I have not been able to come here in about five months. I came today looking for dish towels ,
Boise State gear and a variety of items. I found two retro bowling shirts. I checked the website from the tag on the shirts and found the price at this shop was only three dollars less than I could buy them new at the website. The dish towels I found were priced at this shop at $5.00. They had a tag from the original retailer at $3.99.. I really like this shop and I like to support it because of their projects in the community. I did find a few kitchen items I could use. I was unfortunately surprised at the increase in pricing at this store from just 4 or 5 months ago. They are, of course, entitled to price it at whatever they wish. However, myself, being on a limited income, I won't be able to sjop here as often as I would like.

This is a great second hand store stop when you are on a thrift store crawl or even just a one stop on a random outing. Not only do they have a decent selection of clothes, shoes, and household items, but the assistance league is deeply embedded into helping the local community. The thing I like the most about their community help is they always have flyers up that share what their community support looks like, that week or month.

They help students with hearing aids, affording prom dress rentals to all high school students (nominal fee), school supplies, new clothes for kids, empowering foster children, new born supplies for families in need....plus more!

The staff are all volunteers and are always so extremely friendly. Parking is never a problem. They are on a busy street so crossing traffic can take a bit of waiting so I just take a right, like my grandma always did.

I have found some pretty affordable, phenomenal items here and I never feel bad buying them because I known it is helping the community. :)

Very nicely merchandised store. Sadly it looked very pretty but inventory was so-so. I'm hoping I caught then on a bad day.

Plus side: lovely store
Minus side: the customers waiting a long time to make a left across Glenwood while cars pike up behind them AND blocking the entrance to the store and causing a backup on Glenwood as well. Not the stores fault but annoying and unsafe.

They are very careful on what they offer for sale. Designer clothes in really great condition, linens, tabletop, shoes, jewelry and accessories. They keep everything seasonal so you get timely items.

This store has amazing items. The donations are carefully checked and everything is clean and in good shape. It has a wonderful feel in the store, open and pleasant. I've bought so many nice clothes, especially from the "Younique Boutique (sp?)" section. The jewelry is lovely and such a good price. There's a very good selection of book club books too.