Secondhand shopping in Appleton splits into three trips, and the thrift stores Appleton has fall neatly into them: curated vintage on College Avenue downtown, charity racks spread across the north and south sides, and the big chain stores out west. This rundown groups them by what you are hunting for, with straight-line distances from downtown so you can plan a loop.
A good share of these shops are run by churches and charities, so what you spend goes to things like a voucher program for neighbors in need or a high school's teen ministry. If you are pairing a thrift run with the rest of a visit, there is plenty more to fill a weekend in Appleton.
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Which Appleton thrift store for what
Short on time? Match the shop to the hunt.
- Vintage clothing with real size range: DVSN 1 VNTG on College Avenue.
- Trading in your own clothes: The Wild Goose Exchange, which buys, sells and trades.
- Clothing by the pound and vinyl records: Left Behind on West Wisconsin Avenue.
- Teen and young-adult brands, and selling back outgrown clothes: Plato's Closet on West Michaels Drive.
- Furniture, appliances and building supplies: the Habitat ReStore on Integrity Way.
- Books with a give-one-away rule: Outside The Box on North Oneida Street.
- Charity racks where the money stays local: St. Vincent de Paul, Bargain Garden or Fair Market.
Downtown vintage and resale on College Avenue
The curated vintage and resale shops sit within a few blocks of each other on College Avenue, between 10 E and 214 E, so you can park once and walk the whole stretch. The History Museum at the Castle, at 330 E College Ave, is about 0.1 miles past the east end of the run, so Houdini can bookend the walk.
The Wild Goose Exchange, at the start of the run, buys, sells and trades well-made clothing and accessories, so you can bring a bag of your own and leave with something new to you. Brands like Carhartt and Harley-Davidson turn up alongside more design-led pieces, trinkets, jewelry and collaborations with local artists. The shop's stated aim is giving good pieces a second life and keeping fashion local and sustainable.
A few steps away, across College Avenue at 113 E College Ave, DVSN 1 VNTG specializes in vintage clothing and shoes, restocks often and carries a decent range of sizes. Keep going to 214 E College Ave for Beatnik Betty's Resale Butik, which mixes vintage and modern pre-loved pieces, shoes included, for women and men. The owners pick for individuality, creativity and sustainability, so the racks skew toward pieces with personality.
Between the two, Sugar Rushlow Boutique at 129 E College Ave sells clothing, jewelry and accessories, and it is the place for custom permanent jewelry if you want a souvenir that does not fit in a suitcase. It also pierces ears for kids 5 and up, which is handy to know if a kid in your group has been asking for one.
Parking downtown is easiest in the city ramps, which charge $3 for under four hours and $6 for longer. The shows, the Houdini museum and the dinner spots on the same street make a walk through the rest of downtown Appleton an easy add-on to a shopping morning.
The West Wisconsin Avenue run
About three-quarters of a mile north of College Avenue, West Wisconsin Avenue has three secondhand stops strung along it, from the 200 block out to the 1300 block.
Farther west at 634 W Wisconsin Ave, across the street from the Cold Shot bar, Love Lee Pop carries carefully picked vintage clothing for men and women and has a fitting room, which saves a lot of guessing.
Out at 1320 W Wisconsin Ave, Echoes, A Christian Thrift Store is a church-run outreach ministry with a changing stock of clothing, books, housewares and furniture. It takes donations during set drop-off hours on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Charity thrift stores that fund local programs
Several Appleton thrift stores exist to raise money for a cause, and each one's listing says which cause.
The second store, St. Vincent de Paul Westhill at 1175 N Westhill Blvd, funds a voucher program that provides items to neighbors in need. It is about 2.8 miles west-northwest of downtown, so it pairs well with the west-side chain stores. Westhill keeps longer hours, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and is also closed Sundays.
On the north side at 2725 N Meade St, Bargain Garden raises money for Fox Valley Lutheran High School's teen ministry and other Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod charities. Its hours are short, so plan around them: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, until 8 p.m. on Thursdays, and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
Also on the north side, AbleLight Thrift Shop at 138 E Northland Ave is run by AbleLight, a nonprofit charity, and carries clothing and a wide spread of other goods. Its own site lists hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, with donations taken from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday. It welcomes volunteers for cashier and sorting work. If you are in town for a while and handy, it also looks for volunteers for light carpentry and building maintenance.
South of downtown at 2130 S Memorial Dr, Fair Market Thrift Store is a nonprofit that raises money for Christian education and will drive out to pick up donations.
Goodwill, Plato's Closet and the west-side cluster
Out west, three of the chain stores sit within about a quarter mile of each other on Michaels Drive and Casaloma Drive, roughly 3.5 miles from downtown. Grand Chute Goodwill at 4759 W Michaels Dr is a full Goodwill retail store and training center with pre-owned clothing and housewares.
About 0.2 miles from the Goodwill at 4651 W Michaels Dr, Plato's Closet buys and sells trendy secondhand clothing for teens and young adults, so it is the place to sell back what the kids have outgrown. Half Price Books at 281 N Casaloma Dr rounds out the cluster with used books, movies and music.
Closer in, at 1341 W Spencer St about a mile west-southwest of downtown, the Goodwill NCW Outlet Store is Goodwill's outlet format, with pre-owned clothing, furniture and housewares. Goodwill NCW also has a store in Darboy, on Stoney Brook Road east of the city, and more in Menasha and Neenah.
Used books and records
Half Price Books on the west side covers movies and music alongside the books, and for vinyl, Left Behind on West Wisconsin Avenue turns up records among the furniture.
Furniture, home goods and building supplies
For smaller things, Ye Old Goat at 1919 E Calumet St, about 2 miles southeast of downtown, stocks seasonal goods and vintage home pieces, with crafty finds like wool ornaments. Think of it as a gift shop with a vintage streak, with stock that changes with the season.
Planning a thrift day in Appleton
Start downtown on foot with the College Avenue vintage shops, then drive the West Wisconsin Avenue run and finish at the west-side cluster, a loop of about 8 miles in straight lines and a little more on the road. If you are coming from the south, swap in Fair Market on South Memorial Drive and the Goodwill outlet on West Spencer Street instead.
On the east side at 231 S Walter Ave, Fox Valley Thrift Shoppe is listed as closed on Mondays and Sundays, so check before you go.
Hours are the catch. Bargain Garden closes at noon on Saturdays, and Fox Valley Thrift Shoppe, both St. Vincent de Paul stores and Echoes are listed as closed on Sundays, so a weekday or a Saturday morning works better than a Sunday. Echoes is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Check each listing's hours before you set out.
Bring cash as a backup and a bag of your own, and set aside time at Left Behind, where pricing clothing by weight means the scale does the haggling.
Donating in Appleton
Clothing, housewares and books are the easy donations, and most charity shops will take them during open hours. Call ahead for furniture or electronics; mattresses, box springs and old tube TVs are often turned away. Stained, broken or recalled items, and anything missing its safety parts, are usually refused too, so sort before you load the car.
For big items, Fair Market and the Habitat ReStore both offer pickup. Nonprofit stores usually hand you a blank receipt to fill in your own value for taxes, while for-profit resale shops do not. If you want something back for your clothes, take them to The Wild Goose Exchange or Plato's Closet, which buy clothing.
Worth the drive: Brillion
About 18 miles east-southeast in Brillion, Hidden Treasures Thrift Shop is a volunteer-run thrift shop with a well-arranged floor, and its profits go to local families and organizations. Pair it with the trails at Brillion Nature Center for a half day out of town.
Frequently asked questions
Published September 14, 2026
