Every community has a West 19th Street. Houston Heights in Texas has its artsy shopper’s paradise along their West 19th Street. Albuquerque’s Museum of Art and History is bordered by their 19th Street. Portions of New York’s West 19th Street have their unique assortment of high design, high price urban skyscrapers. There is even a lovely visual by photographer Joseph O. Holmes of his bird’s eye view of a lone women in a yellow dress walking down their tree lined West 19th Street with her shopping bag.
Costa Mesa has a West Nineteenth Street as well. It may not be as visually striking as the Holmes photo of the more famous New York locale. But West 19th Street in Costa Mesa boasts several very good thrift stores in close proximity to one another. OC thrift’n-istas can easily peruse them both in short order in their search for hidden treasures.
The first place worth a visit is the Goodwill on 620 West 19th Street Costa Mesa CA 92627 (949 646 2479). Note that this Goodwill is not the most ambient shopping experience, due to the store’s layout, which is narrow and deep. The place is packed with goods and can feel cramped and crowded- with the parking lot reflecting that condition as well. Despite these shortcomings, Costa Mesa’s Goodwill is worth the look-see. There are always hidden designer treasures among their clothing items. It is not unusual to find brand new clothing and designer wear with store tags intact. My guess is that this is due to that Goodwill’s proximity to Newport Beach with its many fashion-minded residents who appear to regularly clean out their closets and donate those goods. The Costa Mesa Goodwill always seems to have a wide assortment of jeans that is just wonderful- with wonderful prices to match. While there are also lots of home decor, ceramics and kitchen items here, for instance, they are not arranged well and it takes some work to slog through the shelves. The nice and easier-found clothing items provide more immediate rewards for thrifters here. Store hours are generous, open Mon-Sat 9am to 9pm, Sun 10am-6pm. For additional store information search at: www.goodwill.org.
Just a bit down West 19th Street from Goodwill is The Ticktocker Thrift Store at 540 West 19th Street Costa Mesa CA 92627 (949 646 4024). This store is run by volunteers from the National Charity League. The NCL is a national organization of mothers and daughters that have been volunteering together in community philanthropy projects since their founding in 1925. The Ticktocker name has been associated with this organization from its start- various cities where the NCL has chapters have their own thrift stores of that name.
I would say that at the time of my recent visit, this store’s specialty seemed to be children and teen clothing, although there is an assortment of other goods. Parents and grandparents, check out these bargains for children and teens at The Ticktocker, since the prices for their clothing are usually in the $2-$16 range. There is a wide variety of items from which to choose. There are not very many places where a person can buy a nice child’s dress for $5 or a great teen dress for $8. Kid’s shoes are $3- a great savings considering how fast the kids outgrow everything. The Ticktocker often has $10 bag sales- whatever fits in a bag goes for that price. The Ticktocker only accepts cash, no credit cards. Their hours are limited to Thursdays through Saturdays 10am-2pm. A link to their information is: http://yp.ocregister.com/ticktocker+thrift+shop+natl+charity+league.9.48….
