Upon learning that arc Thrift of Colorado had 33 locations, we had no doubt where our first voyage in the new Queenie Van would be! Over the many miles from Minneapolis to Colorado, we had a blast dreaming what treasures Colorado would have for us - We could not imagine how there could be so many thrift shops in one area! We were fairly sure that the volume would produce some duds and doubts crept in imagining racks full of LuLaRoe and Shein. Pushing all gatekeeping impulses aside, we can tell you that not one of the locations disappointed us.
Although we mostly visited arc Thrift locations, we did squeeze in a few independent thrift stores, as well. We averaged 4-5 locations per day and those locations are massive! We spent about 2 hours per stop and ended up visiting 13 thrift shops in the 3 days we were in Colorado. I’ll break down all the details for those interested below.
As a vague overview, if you love to thrift, Denver is amazing!! We did not find any of the inflated pricing that some other thrift stores have been doing lately - with a few exceptions on some leather items and outerwear. All the shops we visited were well organized with sweet and helpful staff, new racks of things were being brought out the whole time we were there (creating FOMO when it was time to head out), and most importantly so much of the good goods! As a bonus, at ARC there is a color tag that is 50% off each day and on Saturdays pretty much the whole store is 50% off – what?!
Here is a list of all of the locations we went to on our first trip in the Queenie & Pearl van. Interested in hearing even more about our journey and our thrifting experience? Listen to our podcast episode on the Get Thrifty Podcast!
Where We Went
Thrift World Omaha- 2901 Marys Avenue, Omaha, NE 68105
- Open Daily 9:00am-9:00 pm (Sunday closes at 8:00pm)
- Highlights: HUGE! Good Vintage section, prices were all over the board and did not make a ton of sense - be sure to look at the tags, had some very sweet vintage tees and jackets up front, pretty pricey
Arc Thrift Fort Collins
- 2701 S College Ave, Fort Collins, CO, USA 80525
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: Very moderate pricing, great selection of skirts and women’s tops, more contemporary brands, less vintage.
Arc Thrift Broomfield
- 6500 West 120th Avenue, Broomfield, CO, USA
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: Great prices, lots of Y2k, great dress selection, not much mens.
Arc Thrift Westminster
- 8657 Sheridan Blvd, Westminster, CO, USA 80003
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: Big, great pricing, tons of women’s clothing, not much men’s
Global Thrift
- 9110 West 88th Ave, Arvada, CO 80005
- Monday – Saturday 10am-6pm
- Highlights: Majority of this volunteer-run shop is 5 items for $15, smaller in size but very full, definitely worth the stop, more contemporary brands than vintage
Arc Thrift Centennial
- 8100 S Quebec St, Centennial, CO, USA 80112
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: Our most EPIC Haul Ever!!! This location was insane, where we found most of the boots, they had a ton of very high quality clothing
Arc Thrift Alameda
- 255 South Hooker Street, Denver, CO, USA 80219
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: Good selection, more contemporary brands than vintage, really cute purses.
Arc Thrift Littleton
- 1400 West Littleton Boulevard, Littleton, CO, USA 80120
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: Good prices, more men’s at this location than some of the others, good selection of purses, great dresses
Arc Thrift Loveland
- 3131 North Garfield Avenue, Loveland, CO, USA 80538
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: Really great pricing, had quite a bit of vintage, we had a major haul here, staff was so nice
Arc Thrift Longmont
- 2151 Main St, Longmont, CO, USA 80501
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: HUGE, great prices, amazing Y2K haul, full of surprising gems
Longmont Community Thrift
- 2351 Main St, Longmont, CO 80501
- Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm
- Sunday 10am-4pm
- Highlights: 2 Floors and an outdoor area in back, amazing prices (some random high prices – but mostly really reasonable), tons of vinyl, cds, tapes and books, cutie shop dog.
Arc Thrift Louisville
- 1349 E South Boulder Rd, Louisville, CO, USA 80027
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: Good prices, the staff were super fun, we found a huge collection of vintage Tiki Glasses, great women’s clothing section
Arc Thrift Lakeland
- 7677 W Jewell Ave, Lakewood, CO 80232
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: Great prices, more women’s than men’s, more contemporary brands
Arc Thrift Arvada
- 9661 West 58th Avenue, Arvada, CO, USA 80002
- Monday-Friday: 9am-9pm
- Saturday: 8am-9pm
- Sunday: 10am-6pm
- Highlights: One of our faves, lots of everything, good prices
Although we were primarily shopping for clothes, footwear and accessories, we explored all of the departments. The only area that seemed a little sparse was the men’s section, but there was plenty for those who love housewares, collectables, and furniture.
If you find yourself in Denver, or want to plan a unique trip experience, the RHINO district was really fun and had some amazing vintage shops, as well as fun restaurants and bars. We are already planning a trip back to check out everywhere we couldn’t fit into our itinerary!
