Miami Nights

I have been a Flamingo Plaza shopper since my parents introduced it to me in my younger years with used clothing galore. Granted my wardrobe at that young age got me made fun of endlessly but I have to thank my parents for teaching me how to appreciate thrift stores at an early age. It's no secret you can find hidden gems within the confines of Miami's thrifting establishments but lately I have found some of my favorite spots are getting a little pricey. Granted people are gonna call me a cheapo but when you see prices for long sleeve shirt at famed stores like Red White and Blue go from$2.95 to a staggering $7.95 you begin to wonder if there are any stores out there that still stick to the "thrift" motto: "Sell it cheap cause nobody wants a shirt a dead person once wore". It's simple economics really, the demand for cheap trendy clothes is skyrocketing as people want to put together their own style without having to pay ridiculous designer name prices. And that's why I've noticed over the years that my most hallowed thrift stores have become overrun by 20 something year old "hipsters" and the prices have inevitably gone up. And not only the prices but the occurrences of finding those treasures has gone down as well.  

So to my surprise while perusing Miami's favorite joke of a newspaper I ran into this article that told of a giant Goodwill Outlet where one could buy in bulk. I had heard stories about places like this but for some reason never made it a point to investigate further than my usual thrifting hangouts. The Goodwill outlet is a 6k sq. ft warehouse with anything you can imagine. With clothes piled up in stacks on tables there are two basic strategies: 1. Is to fill your cart up with a sweeping arm motion and move on to the next stack, and 2. is to dig like a MeerKat searching for the buried treasure. This isn't your traditional pick and choose, go through every hanger and try to catch the glimpse of that rare brand or style type thrifting, this is buy clothes by the pound thrifting. At only $1.75 per pound of clothing you really don't have to worry about getting crappy clothes. What are the odds of getting something good? Well the workers at Goodwill will restock the tables every half hour on busy days, which means the chances of hitting gold are pretty high. I'm gonna make it a point to check it out soon. You can find the Goodwill Terminus at 2125 NW 21st open 8am - 1pm.

p.s. I wonder if people will be pissed I posted this? I know some of my friends keep their favorite thrift stores a greater secret than their gonorrhea problem.