Looking for the best Value Village in Hamilton? There are SO many to choose from. As someone who champions thrifting as their #1 hobby, with most of my free hours being after 7pm I have spent my fair share of time perusing the aisles of Value Village. I have a love/hate relationship with Value Village. On the one hand, Value Village is huge with a constantly changing stock of goods. It is a one stop shop if you want to thrift in a variety of categories. It is also open into the evening on both weekdays and the weekend, making it convenient for those who aren’t available to thrift during the day. But on the other hand… they have no change rooms, no return policy and operate a for-profit thrift store under the vague mission “Thrift ProudTM“.
Related: The best thrift stores in Hamilton (that aren’t Value Village)
Value Village (Waterdown)
Location: 50 Horseshoe Crescent
The Value Village in Waterdown isn’t even technically in Hamilton but I still put it at the top of my list. I have by far had the most success at this location. It is clean, well-organized and less busy than some of the other locations in the city. Yes the prices are high. Yes the change rooms are gone. But I still call it a win when I can buy something unique that’s second hand over something new that’s likely also poorer quality.
Value Village (Stoney Creek)
Location: 840 Queenston Rd
There’s something special about this location, perhaps the best location in Hamilton (or closely tied with the one in Waterdown). It is a great selection of furniture and clothing with finds ranging from unique vintage items to expensive modern brands. It isn’t the largest location but it is the dark horse on the list and I don’t think i’ve ever left empty-handed. I’m honestly not sure everyone would agree with me on this but i’ve *always* found something special here.
Value Village (Ancaster)
Location: 120 Portia Dr
This is a newer location so feels cleaner and better organized than some of the other Value Villages. It is comparable in size to the Waterdown location, which makes it easy to browse up and down the aisles even on a busy day. The location is situated in a more affluent neighbourhood than others, which usually means more expensive items are being donated.
Value Village (Hamilton Mountain)
Location: 530 Fennell Ave E
This one is centrally located and the racks are jam-packed. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective. The racks also tend to be filled with more fast fashion quality goods but there are certainly gems hidden amongst the Shein junk. Despite my complaints and aversion to this location, I still found my most favourite thrifted piece of art here (a delightful vintage needlepoint of a cat saying “quiet please”). You just never know what you will find even.
Value Village tips:
- Sign up for the Super Savers Club. Seriously, these are the only marketing emails that I don’t instantly archive because it has deals that I actually care about #sponsored (haha, just kidding)
- Tuesday is Senior’s Day. So if you are a senior, congrats! If you aren’t, I would pick another day to go as it can get quite busy. Or do what I do and go in the evenings. This competitive crowd isn’t staying out past 7pm.
- Inspect every item carefully for stains and breaks because the employees surely haven’t before placing them on the floor.
- Keep a small bag of donateables in your car so if there’s no Super Savers Club promotion running you can donate and get a 20% off coupon before shopping.
- Dress in layers with your base layer being exceptionally minimal. This helps with quick shopping aisle try-ons because there are no change rooms anymore (RIP).
- Keep your receipts for clothing items and be diligent about exchanges! You have 14 days to bring things back that don’t work in exchange for something else.
