There’s always something to do in Everett — whether you’re savoring a bite from a different culture’s cuisine or catching a stunning sunset at the Port of Everett. But a hidden gem exists: the city’s thriving thrifting scene.
While nearby cities (looking at you Seattle and Bellevue) often steal the spotlight with their renowned thrifting cultures, Everett quietly flies under the radar — making it the perfect spot for those in the know to find overlooked treasures. EvCC students make up a huge demographic of many of Everett’s local thrift stores. With the price of living skyrocketing to new heights, thrift stores have become essential to all college students. Here is a glimpse into some of Everett’s best spots, recommended by our students:
Assistance League of Everett
Assistance League of Everett is a non-profit thrift store located at 5107 Evergreen Way — just down the street from Value Village. Assistance League is not only a hot stop for thrifting, but a largely generous organization — awarding over 12 college scholarships, 70 starting-over supply kits, and giving 5,276 pieces of clothing to children and teens from 2023-2024, proudly displayed front-and-center on their website.
“It was a super welcoming environment with nice staff, amazing selection, and super affordable prices!” Ena Khanna, an EvCC alumni, said. She’s been thrifting in the Everett area since she was 13 years old. Now at 18, she still comes by Everett to thrift despite living in Bellingham.
What makes the Assistance League stand out among other thrift stores in the area is their actually low prices. Back in the early 2000s, it was rare for any item of clothing, regardless of brand, to be over $20. With the rise of resellers on platforms like Mercari and Depop, many larger thrift stores have priced second hand items at record highs. Assistance League takes you back to a simpler time however, as even the highest quality winter coats fetched for no more than $16.99. They also have quaint fitting rooms, so you can try on each piece before purchasing.
While their clothing selection was extensive, they also had a wide variety of other items — most notably dishware and fine china. You can find anything from vibrant Indian glassware, to 300-piece sets of fine china at a quarter of the price of anything online. Large display tables full of custom-made mugs, hand-painted floral plates and even holiday-specific glasses greet you as soon as you enter. The only thing more eye-catching than the dishware is the “50% off!” price signs labelling them. But if dishware isn’t your jam, there’s plenty more to choose from. Perhaps you’ll search through their “Book Nook”, a little room full of second-hand books, or their knick-knack section, filled with porcelain geese, shells, bells, and more.
The Assistance League of Everett has an excellent women’s clothing, bag, and shoe selection — the same can’t be said about the men’s sections. Women’s clothing took up about half the store, while in stark contrast, the men’s clothes only had a few racks. The jewelry section was much smaller than most thrift stores, although their prices were hard to beat.
So while you most likely won’t be leaving without a cart of stuff, know your money is not only well spent on killer deals, but on helping people in our local community.
Value Village
If you have ever thrifted in Everett, chances are you have been to the Value Village located at 6220 Evergreen Way. With over 1000 reviews on Google, it’s no doubt one of Everett’s most popular thrift stores.Value Village has a colossal clothing selection for both men and women and a great selection of furniture, home goods such as dishware and more.
What sets Value Village apart from other thrift stores is their “Super Savers Club”, where inputting your phone number/email will allow you to accumulate points to get money off. Value Village also sends club members exclusive email deals, ranging anywhere from 30% off all purchases to $5 in credit. You can also receive 20% off if you donate to a Value Village, which is a great benefit for any college student looking to do away with teenage dreams when moving to dorms, and investing in a great adult-y microwave. Welcome to life! Speaking of microwaves, Value Village offers a vast variety of various electronic wares. Whether you are looking for a new TV, or perhaps a DVD player, you’ll be in luck.
While Value Village has a massive variety of clothes to pick from (Prom dresses, sleepwear, winter jackets, oh my!), they have hiked up the price of many of their clothing pieces in comparison to previous years. While a decade ago you could have found a Coach purse for five bucks, nowadays Value Village knows “what’s up” and has priced many of their items accordingly. Many pieces (especially brands like Nike, Adidas and other sportswear) retail nearly as much as they would in an outlet mall, despite being used. Value Village gets most clothing items from other non-profits, paying a flat-rate fee, and then sells those goods for a profit. In 2023 alone they made over 1.5 billion dollars in sales across the United States and Canada, according to CBC News.
Price hiking aside, Everett’s Value Village has some of the best selection around. With many donations coming in, you are guaranteed to find new items consistently.
“Every time I come in (Value Village), I always leave with at least a few bags worth of stuff– I stop by every time I’m in town and always find new clothing pieces.” Ena Khanna said.
St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Store
#3 on List (Amanda Phillips)
St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Store is located at 6424 Broadway, and similarly to Assistance League, is a non-profit thrift store. St. Vincent De Paul’s mission as an organization is to help provide financial aid to those in need in Snohomish County, according to their website. As of October 2024, they updated their color tag system so “one of the tag colors will be 25% off, one color will be 50% off and one color will be $.99 for the entire week”, as stated on their “Shop” section of their website. With these awesome deals, St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Store is a must check out for any college student looking to save.
What sets St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Store apart is their two separate buildings — one, dedicated to furniture and picture frames, while the other housed clothes, books, homeware and smaller items. St.Vincent De Paul has the largest furniture selection of the thrift stores on this list, so if you are looking for a new table or some new chairs, it’s a great place to start.
In terms of prices, St. Vincent De Paul falls between Value Village and Assistance League. They have good deals (especially with their new color system), but a few students expressed concerns about how they price items.
“When I last went, I saw a skirt from SHIEN that cost $13. I literally found the same skirt online, brand new, by the way, for 5,” Emma Anderson, an EvCC student, recalled.
Though fast fashion brands have slowly started to invade many thrifting spaces, there are still many high-quality pieces waiting to be found for those who look carefully.
Goodwill (Downtown and South, respectively)
Goodwill serves as the “old faithful” thrifting spots in the community. You can always count on Goodwill to have a diverse selection of items.
While the Goodwill located at 3002 Hoyt Ave. has a good-sized clothing, shoe and purse selection, the Goodwill on 228 SW Everett Mall Way is much larger. The key difference between the two is that the Goodwill on Everett Mall Way has a furniture selection, while the one downtown doesn’t. Both Goodwills have a colored-tag system, which determines which items will be on sale depending on the day of the week. On their website they list the sales a week in advance, so you know what deals you’ll get when.
Similarly to Value Village, however, prices at Goodwill are at record highs. Prices have surpassed many Walmart and Target items according to an article published by Maddie Duley at Yahoo Finance.
Goodwill Outlets (a.k.a “The Bins”)
The Goodwill Outlets are located 2208 W Casino Rd, Everett, WA. The Goodwill Outlets sell items that are no longer sold on Goodwill shelves, and instead thrown into very large, distinct bins. The outlet is much larger than any of the other thrift stores on this list- seemingly going on forever. Even though the Bins, as they are colloquially called, might scare newcomers, the prices certainly won’t! These items are sold by the pound, instead of individually, meaning you could get clothes, electronics, and other goods for pennies on the dollar.
“If you are a college student looking to expand your wardrobe, it’s great. When you walk in there, you never know what you could walk out with,” said Thaniel Hovde-Girard, an EvCC student and frequent and long-time thrifter in the Everett area.
The Bins are known for the best prices around, in contrast to their non-outlet counterparts. Its size also guarantees the widest selection of any thrift store around. However, the Bins are also quite disorganized, and can get quite dirty. Many people suggest going in with gloves prepared, because you never know what’s hiding among all the various items.
Other than disorganization, there’s also another thing to watch out for;
“ It’s kind of a hostile environment… there’s a lot of resellers and high schoolers. There’s a community.” Hovde-Girard said.
For those with a bit more thrifting experience, the Bins are a recommended and affordable place to stop by.
“Just hold your ground… and you’ll be good,” Hovde-Girard added.
There are many great places to go thrifting in Everett. SO before you take a ferry to Whidbey island, or drive over 30 minutes to Seattle or Bellevue, be sure to check out Everett’s underrated thrift scene. There are so many treasures waiting to be found right here, right now.
