Calgary Varsity Goodwill Thrift Store

Current manager, Janine, is unprofessional and rude. It is obvious that the staff there are afraid of her. All the other managers and staff at every Goodwill store have always been nice and helpful. I have enjoyed shopping at Goodwill stores for years and have never had any issues at any of them.

It's a very amazing store with polite and respectful staff. Prices are good and fair and you can find very clean used stuff there.
I strongly recommend you to visit the Goodwill store.

The fanciest Goodwill by far! This location is really nice, from the lighting to the selection it feels like you're in a boutique rather than a thrift store. I think because it's in such a good neighborhood the donations that stock the racks are high quality (that I've seen in the two times I've been here.)
The only thing I can comment on is that they have minimal stock at a time. I personally like browsing thrift stores for an hour or two but this one is not that kind of thrifting for me.

Scam Alert! NOT A REAL CHARITY/NON PROFIT! The CEO makes roughly $500,000/year. How is that non-profit? Bring your used good to The MCC, a charity that doesn't want to profit off your donations and people in need.

Had great help with all the staff especially Thomas who helped in every way he could with his co worker. Would recommend this store to anybody great staff.

Love having this business so close
Wonderful, kind staff
Thank you for giving us a place to give

The Goodwill centre at Varsity, in Calgary, is a great place to recycle used items that others can still use. It’s great to know you are contributing rather than filling the landfill with perfectly serviceable items. Friendly staff at the drop-off section are an added bonus.

I have found an amazing Christmas tree, for more than very nice price here! And big thanks to the staff for helping to put it in my car!

Very good store, nice personnel and very clean place to shop.

I was clearly not the core market of the shop, so the clothes were a bit outdated to my taste, but I'm sure it will satisfy someone else. It was also very cheap.

There are loads of second-hand books, movies and objects, even though clothes are the main reason to go there.

Overall, I recommend.

Parked in the desinated donation space, and a worker met us there with a cart. Always great service from friendly helpful staff on the donation side at least!

Open late, free reusable bags with purchase, friendly staff and helpful. Always new things to explore and find.

Excellent prices. Most of the time you find new products with the tag on. And you don't pay any GST.

Used to have the books organized by days of the week which was great. Would be able to easily tell which books came in last.

Now there is no organization as far as category or which set of books are newly arrived.

It would take me just a few mins looking over the new stock. Now i have to spend and hour at the very least looking through all the shelves cause the new stock is just randomly shoved wherever.

Due to this change i cant come as often cause i dont have an hour+ to spend to look through everything all the time.

I asked i ask customer service about this and I was told that customers complained about the days of the week. Well tell me by removing the days of the week, how did it improve. You simple removed any organization you had.

Very disappointed.

By far the best quality and price for any Thrift stores I have been to.
Love going there. It was very fun to come to around Christmas time

The books here are obviously leftovers from your Amazon seller.
There are never any good books here and it's easy to spot the leftovers on your shelf.
What's the point of donating books here when you sell them elsewhere?
I've been coming in alot lately like I have for years but your books are obviously not worth checking any longer. Oh well, see you later.

Can’t leave zero stars so 1 star will have to do. I am embarrassed for your company and how you represent yourselves. No mask no entry, unacceptable! Being told to leave or put on a mask. Well I can’t wear one, I have a medical exemption from my doctor. Which in Alberta is legal to go in public places without a mask. When given written note from a doctor

Prices are way up, service is way down. Saw an item marked $15.new price still on item $9.99 and still using covid as excuse for no washrooms. Owner still making millions.

I am aware of the operation of books behind the scenes. Some employees of yours know as well so it cannot be denied.

We have hard evidence and can also prove the flow of books that are not going to the storefront.

They throw all religious items, history books, in garbage, and if you are looking for die cast cars well those don't even hit the floor a certain lady confiscates them for her collection for years, the whole place is shaddy, fire employees with no just cause only because they were stepping on toes or just didn't like them, I would watch what you donate to this store

Always an awesome friendly place to look for treasures. The staff are friendly and tbe shoping area is clean. They have a variety of knick knacks from art pieces to kitchen wares. The clothes are priced fairly especially kids stuff.

I also highly recommend giving them your donations as they are one of the best goodwill stores around.

I went there for the first time since reopening today, everything was fine until I went to pay. A younger girl with glasses made my experience awful. She never looked at me once and pretended to be busy while I stood in line. When I did get to the counter she didn't acknowledge me or even tell me how much I owed except to point at the machine. I asked how her day was going and she said "its fine. " She didn't even smile, look at me or say goodbye. Will not be coming back. There is also a chair there priced for $100.seriously? Yikes.awful.

Recently expanded into a new larger space (mid-2021). Well laid out. Good book selection and good prices on the books.

What happened to the book section. We donat self help, non fiction, great books and go in to buy and my books aren't even put on the shelves? How could you be putting only fiction out? I heard you are scanning in the back and shipping to the USA and not selling back to our community. What is going on Goodwill?

I find this goodwill has surprisingly good stuff - particularly their books! I have found everything from new releases that just came out in the last year, to really cool old editions. Plus the prices are so much better than Value Village!

Really disappointed. Prices are completely exploded. This used to be my favorite thirft shop, it had a lot of character and prices were fair, but I couldn't believe how it has been standardized, commercialized and how Prices have sky rocketed. A banana republic blazer which used to be 9.50 is now 20.00. Really guys? You're a thrift store that receives donations.sad to say I won't be coming back to this location

Swung by yesterday with more than enough time to browse around and upon standing in line for perhaps 10-15 minutes and watching customers walkout in pairs, my friend and I were denied entry because only one person from a house hold were allowed in which did not make sense as we had seen couples walk out, as it was raining we decided to just leave and as we left this other couple just walked right in with no issue, pretty disappointed my friend and I just went to the goodwill in beacon hill where we had no issue with employees acting as bouncers

Place to donate the one u not require anymore. Friendly staff. They have bins to correct your donation.

One very unfriendly uninviting staff member ruins the whole experience everytime I go. This person even fights with you over what age group a book should be in. I'll let the management figure it out who it is.

Good place to check out if you're looking for bargains or rarities. They must be doing well.they are expanding.

I find this goodwill is best for surprise finds of small furniture and home things (like dishes, decor etc). For clothing finds, Chinook location can be more of a success. Can't wait when they finish renos, definitely need more space.

Always feels good to donate my unneeded goods here. Great service you're providing for everybody.

One of my first and favorite shops to pop into when I'm on the hunt for an item! I've never left empty handed and always seem to find what I'm looking for plus more. The staff have always been kind and helpful.

This is a smaller Goodwill, but it is neat and tidy. Not much furniture, but it does have a fair amount of clothing and some household and decorative items.
Great price on books. $2.50 for adult fiction. Lots of parking. Limited number of customers allowed during COVID-19. Line ups form outside.

Today I went to Varsity Good will store. Very well organised.
What surprised me: the three staff (women) did not wear masks!
I know, masks are mandatory in places like this, so I asked. Why?
Explanation was. For medical reasons they can not wear the masks!
If there is a medical reason, should they put those people in front to be danger to us customers and to themselves?
Tomorrow will call health inspection to clarify this.

This place is overpriced and run down, it's very dirty and Tiny. The variety of items in the store are so old they should have been recycled decades ago.

I was trying to ask where I can drop off some clothes but I was hung up on. I called about and asked the same question and was told they were closed at 9 then proceeded with asking the manager and was quickly brushed off when I had other questions. I guess they were busy.so if any other goodwill is willing to accept donations and wouldn't mind answering questions please let me know.

Normally I love donating to Goodwill, I know they actually use the money to help people, unlike some other places that claim to.donate to non profits, but actually keep most of the profit. So this is not a reflection on Goodwill itself, buy on the employee that was "helping" when I went in to donate this afternoon. Normally an employee with come out and help to carry donations into the store, today this employee just stood there, and pointed to where to put my items once I asked. I came back inside with some breakable and asked if he could take them as I didnt want them to break in the bin, and he rudely pointed at the floor and grunted at me to put them there. No help, no politeness or courtesy, just plain rude, not even sure what he was being paid for.

Great staff, good store and nice inventory. Yes, prices are a bit higher however, Goodwill has recently entered into the world on online selling so they demand more for their products now. Still, it's the best value for your money if you like high quality clothing. They circulate their stock quickly so nothing is ever there for more than 5 weeks.

Favorite Calgary thrift store high quality at greatprices most thrift stores are over priced these days these ladies know how to run a good store

Great sales, price and selection. You will not go back to Value Village if you are looking for clothes.

Before I respected and loved this location but now they have implemented a rule u must leave ur backpacks at the front and only enforce it on teenagers I confronted them about it saying I always buy stuff there and have never stolen anything from them and they said they do it to everyone when ive seen multiple older people with them on. AGEIST but good stuff

Great finds but go off hours for quick access to change rooms. They do have a lot of change rooms though so wait isn't bad. Some items overpriced.

Appreciate being able to drop stuff off to people rather than just a box. Would be nice though to actually enter the area rather than stand outside the door and feel strange.

This is an excellent store
Well sorted and displayed
I often find something good here

I like places like this because it helps people in need as well as recycling things that we would no longer use but that are still in perfectly good condition.most of these places don't have a department store feel, but that's probably because they are underfunded.

I shop and support this store a lot. Not anymore. I bought a bluray dvd player yesterday, and I asked the cashier if there was a spot for me to test it first because I know all sales are final and I didn't want to buy something that doesnt work. The cashier told me that it was tested before going on the shelves, but that I had 7 days to return all electronics for a FULL refund as long as I brought the receipt. The bluray did work, but not without a remote which was not sold with the device. So, I went to return it today. The lady at the till today was downright rude to me (she implied I was an idiot for buying it without a remote, thanks for that) and then refused to give me my money back because all sales are final and it was my fault for not understanding the all sales are final part of the receipt. I'm allowed store credit though, which I really don't want. I want my money back. I paid cash, really don't understand why they cant give me my money back especially since I returned the product less than 12 hours later. I feel completely cheated and taken advantage of by this store. Really disappointing customer service. Will not be going back or donating here ever again. Go to WINS instead. They are a far better cause and cheaper to be honest.