Post #42146 by laney on Tue, Jul 8, 2003 4:32 PM

Driving by a Salvation Army I'd never been to today, I saw several tall fake tropical plants in the windows. I'm always looking for cheep tall fake palms, bamboo, and cheesy looking fake plants for my living room. I have plenty real palms outside but always seem to kill my indoor plants.

Anyway, I did a U-turn, went in, and headed right for the coolest looking fake palm. My son and I searched for a price tag, but nothing. On to the next, a bamboo, no price tag, next a banana plant, again, no tag. They had at least 12 different plants along the front. Finally I asked an employee how much they are. She said they are only for decoration. They, clearly didn't all come from the same place or era, so I asked, "So, The Salvation Army purchased these for their stores or were these donations?" She said "Oh they were donations" I said "So, the Salvation Army keeps some of it's donations for decorations?" She said "Oh yes, we do!"

I don't know about you guys but I donate a lot of stuff to them. When I do I expect that these things will be resold (hopefully to people who can't afford retail-like me often) and the profits used for the needy. I don't go to thrift stores for the decor! Every donation should have a price tag on it!
God forbid they ever decide to "decorate" their stores in tiki decor-they'd keep anything tiki or Hawaiian! That may be an extreme idea but there were tons of fake plants in this store which were donated for sale and just kept by the company (or this store). I would have at least bought 4 of them. I think it's wrong!

While I'm at it, what's with the boutiques at many Salvation Armys? Most of the Orange County locations now have these gated off areas where everything is super expensive and most, not even a collectible! I've seen Payless shoes in there, priced higher that Payless prices their shoes! I have yet to find something good in a Salvation Army Boutique!

There, I feel better!