Over our small break, I was able to visit a local thrift store in our area, The Salvation Army on Van Dyke Ave, Shelby Township. Located in Shelby Square Shopping Center, this second-hand shop is one of my personal favorites for thrift stores located around Macomb.  

Walking into the store, there are cash registers placed in front along with clear sections that differentiate between women, men, and kids clothing. Starting at the front of the women’s section, I didn’t find any tank tops that pertained to my style, so I moved onto the women’s t-shirts. When I sifted through all the tops, I was able to find an embroidered, navy blue, Arizona t-shirt. It was oversized with the sleeves and bottom cut by its previous owner.  

Next, I moved onto sweaters and jackets, stumbling across two of my favorite items of the night. As I looked through the women’s jackets, I found an early 2000s Juicy Couture velour jacket. The article of clothing sported a bedazzled white “Juicy” spelled across each side of the zipper. The second jacket was a cropped, electric blue, terry cloth Pink VS jacket. It was covered in blue rhinestones, the front having a bedazzled chest piece of the dog logo and the entire back in their bottlecap design, with the est. date and slogan, “Love Pink.”  

With jeans, it was more of a difficult find, pulling around 10 different pairs to try on in the dressing room. What I ended up with were mid-waisted, light, wash-out, Levi Strauss jeans. As I walked out of the changing room with my discarded pair of jeans, I found the skirt section, eyes lighting up as I saw a tan miniskirt along with a short black Mossimo winter coat. They were both added to the cart immediately and once I found my way back to check out, I drove home to wash the items I purchased.  

To those who are either hesitant about secondhand shops or find that you may have trouble finding what you are looking for, a good place to start is looking up a clothing item you want and scanning through the isle in which the item falls. For example, the women’s section of this Salvation Army had a lot of unique pieces, the t-shirts and tank tops section carrying a lot of pieces from the late 2000s to 5 years ago and even some button-downs from the late 90s. Overall, this store is a must for those who like 2000s fashion, you’ll never know what gems are still on their racks.