Thrift Shops of Cary, NC

Cary, NC — As springtime makes its 2020 appearance, you may be in the market for some discounted designer threads or pre-owned furniture pieces to liven up your closet and your home. These thrift shops, all located in Cary, just might have the perfect find you’ve been looking for.

Cat Angels Thrift Store

2436 SW Cary Parkway | Open 10 AM-5 PM Monday-Saturday and closed Sunday

This quaint, unique shop stands out amongst the rest with its mission to raise money for animals. As a non-profit directing all proceeds to Cat Angels Pet Adoption, customers can shop knowing they are contributing to the care of local kittens and cats up for adoption. The shelter located at the crossing of NW Maynard Rd. and N. Harrison Ave. is home to around 100 cats at the moment and that requires plenty of funds to keep them all well-fed.

For eight years since its open, the store offers customers a wide variety of items that are donated from clothing and housewares to small furniture, books and DVDs.

“I think we are unique because we are so small and we interact with customers a lot more than the biggers stores so we can give more personalized service and get to know everybody,” said Store Manager Lisa Uthe.

While most donations are accepted at Cat Angels Thrift Store, they cannot accept donations of large furniture.

Dorcas Thrift Shop

187 High House Road | Open 10 AM- 6 PM Monday- Friday, 9 AM-5 PM Saturday and closed Sunday

Staffed by more than 400 local volunteers, the Dorcas Thrift Shop offers a wide variety of merchandise including clothing for the whole family, shoes, coats, small appliances, vintage items, books, in-store floral arrangements and plenty more at affordable prices.

In 2018, Dorcas Ministries celebrated 50 years of service to the community through its various outreach ministries aimed at assisting area residents in order to empower them to become stable and self-sufficient.

The ministry and store have no shortage of community partners including 27 churches in Cary alone and dozens of Cary-based businesses and organizations.

GCF Donation Center & Store

220 Kilmayne Drive | Open 9 AM-8:30 PM Monday-Friday, 9 AM-6 PM Saturday and 12-6 PM Sunday

As with all Goodwill stores nationwide, the Cary location offers pre-owned housewares, furniture, clothing, books and many more unique offerings too. With many, many racks to peruse, clothing is separated into gender, style and colors to allow customers to find what they’re searching for a bit quicker.

Goodwill Industries was founded in 1902 and is a nonprofit that provides job training, employment placement services, and other community-based programs for people who have barriers preventing them from otherwise obtaining a job. Along with other donation-accepting thrift stores, donors can receive a receipt of their contribution that can be used as a tax deduction.

Habitat Wake ReStore – Cary

181 High House Road | Open 10 AM-6 PM Monday-Friday, 9 AM-5 PM Saturday and closed Sunday

This store is an affiliate Habitat for Humanity which has 9 and soon to be 10 ReStores in the Triangle area. The High House Road location has had its doors open for 7 years and is the only Habitat Restore in Cary. In speaking with Assitant Store Manager Avery Gaskins, he said what sets their store apart from other thrift shops in Cary is the cabinet business they run out of the store.

“We’re dealers for two different cabinet distributors, so people bring in their measurements and we do custom designs for customers and generally speaking they save 40-50% compared to what they would spend at a big-box retailer,” said Gaskins.

Other than cabinetry, the store is filled with donated furniture, building materials and lighting.

“Basically anything we don’t take as donations, Dorcas does and vice versa. It’s like a one-stop-shop for your donations,” said Gaskins.

Thrift 2 Gift

900 E Chatham Street | Open 10 AM-7 PM Monday-Friday, 10 AM-6 PM Saturday and closed Sunday

The Christian-based non-profit, Thrift 2 Gift, opened its doors in eastern Cary as a branch of Seeds of Mustard Ministries. All of the proceeds of the store go towards the ministry’s mission of helping children and families in crisis situations.

Shoppers will find the thrift shop staples of clothing, furniture and housewares along with a wide variety of other items such as kitchen-wares, sporting goods, toys, electronics, baby products, jewelry and linens.

Thrift 2 Gift also accepts donations, but before heading over check out their list of things they do not accept.

Consider Donating

For our readers who aren’t big on shopping or might be looking to downsize, consider making donations to these thrift shops as you do your Spring cleaning. All stores accept donations, but as a rule of thumb, call ahead or check their website to make sure your donations can be accepted.

Story and photos by Ashley Kairis.