This past Saturday I experienced my first REI garage sale.
The store opened at 10 but we didn't get there until a couple of hours later.
The first thing I noticed was that the parking lot was full with people pulling in as fast as people leaving. We got the last available parking spot that was open at that moment. Going inside one of the employees made sure to tell us that all the "good stuff" was long gone. That was OK with me as I really don't need anything. I wandered the store looking at all the marked down items, every kind of thing you can think of. What impressed me most was not the prices, but how worn some of the items looked. There were shoes that had lots of miles on them and the reason for return, as marked on the garage sale tag, was that they weren't comfortable. Another was a pair of gloves marked that they were too small that were torn and worn. The best looking items were winter jackets of every size and style, some looked brand new. But like I said, I don't need anything, not even at low prices. Kathy did pick up a few items, a couple of Smart Wool tops, a bicycle pannier (that almost matches the one she got at her last garage sale) and a pair of gloves.
From there we went to New York City's Alley Pond Park and walked for a couple of hours before heading home.
The garage sale was interesting but I guess it would pay to get there when the doors open if you were really looking for something specific.
The store opened at 10 but we didn't get there until a couple of hours later.
The first thing I noticed was that the parking lot was full with people pulling in as fast as people leaving. We got the last available parking spot that was open at that moment. Going inside one of the employees made sure to tell us that all the "good stuff" was long gone. That was OK with me as I really don't need anything. I wandered the store looking at all the marked down items, every kind of thing you can think of. What impressed me most was not the prices, but how worn some of the items looked. There were shoes that had lots of miles on them and the reason for return, as marked on the garage sale tag, was that they weren't comfortable. Another was a pair of gloves marked that they were too small that were torn and worn. The best looking items were winter jackets of every size and style, some looked brand new. But like I said, I don't need anything, not even at low prices. Kathy did pick up a few items, a couple of Smart Wool tops, a bicycle pannier (that almost matches the one she got at her last garage sale) and a pair of gloves.
From there we went to New York City's Alley Pond Park and walked for a couple of hours before heading home.
The garage sale was interesting but I guess it would pay to get there when the doors open if you were really looking for something specific.