Thrifting At Value Village -

Alannah Murphy

This is an independently submitted op-ed for our Quill section. Views and statements made in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Tower.

Value Village is the perfect place for any Catholic University student who wants to get cute clothes or household items for a cheap price. It is a thrift store chain with many locations around the country, including 12 locations in Maryland.

According to the Value Village website, back in 1954, their first thrift shop was an old movie theater in San Francisco’s Mission District home.

“From day one, we gave shoppers what they were looking for: stylish finds at unbelievable savings,” their website stated.

I went to the Adelphi Value Village location, which was a 15-minute drive from Catholic’s campus. You can also use the Metro by taking the red line from the Brookland-CUA station to the Fort Totten station and then using a Fort Totten bus to take you the rest of the way.

Value Village is very similar to Goodwill in the sense that it is a huge second-hand store full of every type of clothing item you can think of, as well as shoes, room decor, and furniture. In my opinion, Value Village is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered by the students at CUA. As a college student, it can be a struggle to balance your finances, and oftentimes we have to sacrifice our desire to get new clothes in order to fund our college payments. This is exacerbated by living in a city like Washington D.C., where everything seems to be marked up. However, at Value Village, all of their clothes are significantly marked down. The day that I went, they were having a 40% off sale and I was able to get a skirt and dress for under $12. Some of my roommates were able to find winter sweaters, blouses, and jeans for very reasonable prices. I was incredibly impressed with the selection of clothing that Value Village has, as there were many name brands; which is a significant benefit because I think a big deterrent for people considering thrift shopping is that they don’t think they will be able to find the types of clothes they like to wear.

Value Village is also the perfect place for people to get rid of clothes or household items they no longer use. It is a wonderful way to help the DMV community as there are many families who shop at Value Village regularly. When I was there over the weekend, I saw many kids shopping with their parents for school clothes. In addition to clothes, my roommates and I were able to get some donated household items when we found a rug and pillows for our living room.

But if going off campus is not something you are interested in, CUA has its own thrift store of sorts called Cardinal Closet (CC) which is located in Gibbons Hall. I visited the CC a few times last year and I found it to be a fun and unique way to conveniently share clothes with other students. It is similar to a regular thrift store in the sense that all the clothes at the on campus thrift store are donated by students. What makes Cardinal Closest different is that everything is free. The “Closet” is housed in a relatively small area so there is not much of a selection compared to a regular thrift store but I would still recommend Cardinal Closet as a wonderful alternative to going to a large thrift store.

Thrifting is a thing I have just started to get into since coming to college, and so far, I have found it to be very enjoyable. When you go to a thrift store, you never know what you’re going to find – you feel a bit like an explorer going through all of the clothing racks trying to find a new piece of clothing to add to your closet.