What makes for thrift shop heaven, not only for the shopper but for the person who works there?
Lots of rooms to browse in.
Friendly people.
Really great stuff to buy.
That's it. Now you may have other things you'd like to add but these are my choices.
First, for the important stuff, like the address. We are located at 10052 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito, California, between Fairmount and Central. We are open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11 AM to 3 PM. Everyone who works at the Turnabout is a volunteer: all proceeds support orthodontia care for needy children.
Neighbors are important, whether you're a business or a resident, so I think having an idea of what's near to us is important. As you're coming down San Pablo Avenue from Albany and Berkeley, we are on the right side of San Pablo, between Fairmount and Central. Rafael's Shutter Cafe is just beyond us on the right, the Cerrito Movie Theater is just beyond the Shutter Cafe. It was a great theatre--really innovative--but unfortunately it's closed indefinitely. The Shutter Cafe is near enough to the Turnabout to tempt the workers at our shop to indulge in pancakes, waffles, hamburgers all too often! It is a very friendly place, due to the wonderful Otis who owns the Cafe. Otis is the greatest!
Now for the Turnabout. Don't you just love it when the rooms go on and on? We have four rooms to browse in--count 'em, four! You walk in and the friendliness of the shop shines out, due to all those friendly people I talked about being important for a thrift shop. I'm not just talking here about those of us that work there but also the customers. Our customers love us and love to be in the shop and you feel that when you walk in.
In the first room you'll find jewelry as well as antiques, pottery and specialities from all over the world. You'll often find people crowded up next to the counter and looking at the jewelry and talking, or poking through the pottery and dishes on the shelves to the left. On the wall behind this counter are shelves with antique dishes and other interesting things.
Walk straight through and you come to the room that features books and kitchen items: books for the nurturing of the soul; kitchen things for the nurturing of the body. Beyond that is a large room filled with clothing of all kinds beautifully arranged. Our mascots, Raggedy Anne and Raggedy Andy, sit on an upper shelf and smile down on us.
Beyond that is the room for the person who likes to sew, look for comforters and sheets, decorate and buy their children toys and other treasures. You'll also, at different times of the year, find shoes and Christmas decorations in this room.
Treasures--that's what The Turnabout Shop is all about. Come and visit us!
