Best Of Tucson®

Best Time of Year to Thrift Shop

May and June

Every May, a local charity—often the aforementioned St. Vincent de Paul, but it varies—puts bins in the UA dorms and Greek houses. By the final days of the semester, students who can't fit everything into their suitcases or cars are more than happy to deposit their less-favored clothing into the boxes. A week or so later, there's a surge of nice clothing and shoes at a local thrift store or two. Yes, this means that sometimes, you'll find 30 pairs of size-7 platform flip-flops—but you also can get fabulous designer dresses worn once, or never.