As the seasons change, so do the needs of thrifters and adventurers. Discover how Arc Thrift is supporting outdoor enthusiasts with an incredible selection of camping and picnic essentials. Maggie discusses Arc Thrift’s convenient donation options and shares tips on making the most of your thrifting experience. Economize without compromise as you explore seasonal outdoor activities with Arc Thrift’s vast collection, benefitting both your wallet and the environment.
00:12:11 Thrifting Tips and The Get Thrifty Podcast
SPEAKER 01 :
Hey, it’s Mike Dream with 670 KLTT. We’re joined by Maggie from Arc Thrift. Maggie, thanks for being with us.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thanks for having me, Mike. Very excited.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hey, we are staring right at Father’s Day down the road. Also camping, picnics, outdoors, gardening, all sorts of stuff. What’s really cool at Arc Thrift that people can pick up this time of year? And then let’s talk about some of the things that people will need items for their life.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. I feel like you totally nailed it with the gardening. It’s right around the corner, right? And our Furniture departments are heavy with all sorts of pots and the rakes, the hose, the hoses, all the things you need to make your yard look special this summer. But then camping, too, absolutely right around the corner. We’ve got all the fun camping gear. Our aisles are stocked. And then it’s also donation season. People are getting ready for all these fun adventures, and they’re cleaning out their closets and garages and basements, and they’re hitting up arcs or stores.
SPEAKER 01 :
So that means for us, more items available, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely, yes. And we’re such an easy and convenient place to do your donating. I always like to tell people, your kids are growing out of their things. You’re going to need to make room in your house for all the new things you want for the next season. And it’s a perfect opportunity to load up your vehicle and hit up one of our donation stations or any one of our 36 stores across the Front Range.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, we just did an Arc Thrift donation in Longmont. It was just so easy. The guys just said, if you want, you can just pop the trunk. We’ll grab the bags in the box and be good. Whatever you need, you know, just easy.
SPEAKER 02 :
Don’t even get out of your car. We’ll hand you the donation receipt. It’s for your taxes and you can be good to go and on your way.
SPEAKER 01 :
That camping, you know, the thing with camping is it gets warm down here, but then you go up the mountains and you’re freezing and you just don’t have the stuff either out or period. You don’t have it.
SPEAKER 02 :
And those big box retailers, although they have the pretty shiny new things, so many people in Colorado try camping and then they don’t enjoy it and they donate their brand new items to us or they upgrade to new items year after year and they want the latest style and the coolest stuff. you know, item for the coldest weather. They want the special heated sleeping bag or whatever it is. And you can find all of those fun things in our furniture department. Again, blowing up with all the things from the garages and the basements. We’re really excited. This season is already looking good. If this rain can stop, we’re going to be well on our way to gardening and camping. It’s a pretty exciting time of year.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, with the camping stuff, do you really need new? I mean, does your camping stove need to be new or can it just be a camping stove, right? Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. Or your cooler. We have coolers coming out of our ears at the stores right now. I was just at a store this morning and walking through 10 different huge size coolers. At least give us a shot before you pay retail prices. Families are on a budget these days. It’s a perfect opportunity, especially if you’re new to thrift. Come check us out for those entry points like camping, like picnicking. Shoot, I’ve even seen paddle boards end up at our stores, canoes, small rowboats, you name it, anything adventure, even golf clubs. My son is really bugging me right now. He’s a lefty. He’s like, Mom, I need a couple new clubs. I’m hitting up the thrift store first.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, smart. And our listeners would be smart to do that. I think in the camping side of things, I think, okay, you know, at the retail store, you end up paying, you know, hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a cooler. It’s a cooler. How about put ice in it, go get one to arc through it, put ice in it and put your stuff in there and call it good.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, or if you’re going to put your fish in it, you know, this is fishing season too, and I’m starting to see the fishing nets, the fishing coolers, the tackle boxes, even the fishing poles, the wellies, all of those things are starting to turn up in the back rooms, and they’ll be hitting our floors any day now.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, are there any of those items that we can’t bring? Isn’t it pretty open, basically?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, we try not to limit people. You know, our goal, we are considered one of Colorado’s largest recyclers. So our goal is really to say yes to as much as possible. The usual suspects we really can’t take by law. For instance, we cannot take mattresses, specially used ones. So that’s just not an option for us. We are not allowed to take them. And the other big problem for us is computer monitors and big screen TVs. We cannot sell them in our stores. We cannot take them on donation. Those are usually the biggest things that people try and donate that we can’t take, as well as like hazardous materials, your paints, that kind of thing. But Colorado does such a great job of electronics drives, paint drives. small appliance drives so you don’t really have to worry about those items there’s always an opportunity in the summer to to donate those to places that ethically recycle them yeah yeah lots of options we’re speaking with maggie with arc thrift and it’s arcthrift.com 36 locations right yes 36 and a brand new one in albuquerque we’re so excited yes yeah if you go to albuquerque check it out Oh, it’s so great. We’re looking at a second location in Albuquerque. We’re talking about Glenwood Springs. Options are coming along. You know how we roll here at Arc Thrift Stores. Our goal is to do two stores a year. So fingers crossed we’ll make that happen for 2025 and again in 26.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, Producer Tanner and I were talking. Arc Thrift Stores are so close that a lot of times you can hit a couple stores. If you don’t find something you need at one store, just go to another one. A lot of times you’ll have success, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. You know, we actually believe that many of our customers hit three plus stores in a visit just because you want to, you know, see all that has to offer. Every single store is kind of a reflection of the neighborhood. So I always suggest don’t just hit one, especially on a Saturday. If you can up it to three, you’re going to have more luck. The gems, you know, tend to turn up when you’re on a mission.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now Tanner brought up picnics and what’s different about picnics in terms of what people could get at Arc Thrift that they just don’t need to buy?
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. The picnic baskets, the blankets, you know. You’re just going to be sitting in the dirt or the grass and… picnic blankets in our domestics department are a great opportunity. And, you know, people are kind of glamping nowadays, which I love. They’re doing these really elaborate picnics for their kiddos or for their hot dates, whatever they’re doing over the weekend. And you can hit our domestics department for a really, you know, awesome blanket to put out and sit on, get a cooler. Shoot, we can deck you out for a fun picnic in almost every aisle. And then plus, think about All of the plasticware, water bottles, even the utensils, all of that you can find. Plastic champagne glasses. Are you proposing to someone this summer? Come get all the things from ARC, and you can feel good about the environment that you’re helping, and your wallet will certainly thank you for it.
SPEAKER 01 :
Wouldn’t one of the tricks, this could be a camping tip or a picnic tip, is you can go to Arc Thrift, get everything, and just have it all in a bin, you know, ready to go. So it’s all there. You have an extra set. We do that with camping. It’s so much easier.
SPEAKER 02 :
And as you’re cleaning all that stuff out, my husband and I just did that, which reminds me, you’re in your garage, you’re cleaning out all your old camping stuff, and you’re like, oh, I never used this little, you know, percolator coffee thing. Put it in the donation pile, load up your car, bring it to ARC. We will get it to a new family that will bring new life to it, new chapter.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, that’s really good. That’s kind of one of the unsung things of our thrift is you get to bless other families that may not have the money for this stuff. Absolutely. And it gets expensive to buy camping gear. We all know that. And instead, these folks can buy good, you know, gently used or sometimes even new items and just say, okay, we could have a cooler. It really works. It isn’t broken. Yep.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’re really seeing an influx of customers who are just feeling the pinch with traditional retail or even shopping online. New people who maybe have never discovered thrift before. And their wallets are really thanking them for this because it’s an opportunity. Like you said, lots of new with tag items come to us, especially kids’ clothing. They grow out of these things so fast. You buy them for your kiddos. Next thing you know, they’re high waters. You haven’t taken the tags off, and you throw them in the donation bin. So lots of new with tag items, like you said. And I think that as people are feeling the pinch and this economic kind of uncertainty, they’re going to be hitting our stores more.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, let’s talk about the kids’ summer clothes because it’s, you know, you move into summer, then all of a sudden the winter stuff doesn’t work. Kids have outgrown the other summer stuff, plus it’s going to be summer and they’re playing outside. So, you know, lots of needs.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, and you can follow our socials. We do a 99-cent back-to-school kids sale. That’ll happen sometime in August. We haven’t picked a date yet. As always, you can, you know, follow us on the social media, on Instagram at ArcThrift. and on Facebook as well, even on TikTok now. And we try and let people know at least a week in advance about those special 99-cent sales where they can really load up back-to-school clothes. Like you said, the winter gear is going to be hot. We think it’s going to be summer so quick, and before we know it, we’re going to be dealing with snow again. So a great time to outfit your kids in all the seasons.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, too, I went up to Grand Lake for Memorial Day years ago, and it was snowing hard. So, you know, it can still snow.
SPEAKER 02 :
No surprise. Welcome to Colorado, right?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, it was crazy. And people up there, they were trying to cope. And, man, you… you need the clothing for both of those because it was warmer down here and cold up there. So either way.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. And those Red Rocks concerts right around the corner, you’ve got to layer and be prepared.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. With those blankets and stuff. Now, how about furniture? Is furniture still a need? And if so, what would you tell our listeners about that?
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, furniture is always a need for us. People, especially, you know, our college students are outfitting their first apartments, young married couples. They’re trying to furnish small homes. The thrift store is often the first place they go. So absolutely, furniture is a must. We make it super easy. If you want to donate large furniture that you cannot get into a vehicle, we do have a free option. You can book that online. We will come to your home for free and pick up large furniture. And when you do that, you can actually include with the furniture donation up to 20 boxes and bags of any of your gently used household items or clothing items as well. We try and make it super easy. Now, if you’re able to drop it off, of course, we’ll take it at any of our back doors and our 15 donation stations. But again, we do have that free curbside pickup option if you need it.
SPEAKER 01 :
So you’re the friend of somebody moving, either moving out or coming in too, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely, yes. And you’re doing your garage sales this summer? Give us a shout. If you don’t want to drag that couch or recliner back inside, give us a shout, especially if you’re doing a neighborhood one. We’ll come with our trucks and pick up from all you and your neighbors.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, so good. So you could basically call and say, our whole neighborhood’s doing one, so if you guys want to come, you know, you can make hay.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, and we really do offer this. It’s only something we do in the summertime, obviously, because that’s when most of the people are doing full neighborhood garage sales. And we can bring a full truck out the same day. You finish at 3 o’clock. We’ll be there by 4 and pick up everything.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s so sweet, and that’s a problem. Man, I see people all the time. After the garage sale, there’s stuff out in the yard free. And you know what? As a neighbor, you don’t love that, right? It’s just like have art thrift come and take care of things.
SPEAKER 02 :
And then it gets rained on and it’s totally worthless. So I always think that’s hilarious. Give us a shout, plan ahead, and we’ll send a truck out and take care of your whole neighborhood.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s so good. Now, last question. What’s a hack in terms of someone who says, I want to have the best pick of things at Arc Thrift? Coming early in the morning or what? On a certain day of the week, what will you say?
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, I always think that Friday is a great day because Friday is the day before our big Saturday sale. And people are kind of like, oh, I’m going to wait till Saturday to go buy it. So I always like Friday at close is my favorite time to go to a store. But yes, you’re absolutely right. If you’re hitting up a Saturday, be there when we open. and you’re going to get the pick of the lot. That’s definitely the best way to go.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s awesome. Well, Maggie is a great podcast. Maggie, real quick, how do people hear that? Because you talk about those kind of things.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, absolutely. The Get Thrifty Podcast is anywhere you find podcasts, Spotify, Apple, all the places. We’re super easy. Or you can find it on our website at arcthrift.com.
