Seneca County offers so many options for thrifting in the Finger Lakes area, and here are just a few that we've visited
Seneca County offers so many great things: food, wine, women's rights, and fun- but they also offer unique experiences. What's more fun than a day on the lake drinking wine? Going thrifting after! Here we've created a list of just a few of the wonderful things you can find in Penny Lane, an antique mall located in Waterloo, NY right near Seneca Lake and Geneva! They're located at 319 Waterloo Geneva Rd, Geneva, NY and are open daily. Another great thrift store is a local non-profit, the Seneca County House of Concern, located at 22 Locust Street in Waterloo. They offer the same type of things on a smaller scale, and work hard to give back to our community. Ashia's Closet in downtown Seneca Falls as well as LC New York in Waterloo are both really great options for thrifting and unique shopping experiences too!
If you're looking to make a day out of it, you can stop for lunch or breakfast at Tucci's Family Diner right down the road from Penny Lane, or dinner at Bella's Seneca Lake Steakhouse right around the corner. There are great wineries close by including Ventosa Vineyards and Three Brothers Winery.
If you're just planning on staying in the town of Waterloo, there are some great options for food including Ciccino's Pizza right up the road from the Seneca County House of Concern, or Woody's Bar & Grille across the street from LC New York! Downtown Seneca Falls offer some great food options as well, including Flint & Stave, Parker's on Fall, and Little Italy.
What to look for at📍Penny Lane Antique Mall
Penny Lane is an incredibly large scale antique mall that gives the feeling of a flea market. They have hundreds of different booths throughout their two story building with anything you can think of. Some booths specialize in nostalgia and sell comics, toys, and VHS tapes from the 90s, others sell handbags and shoes. Some booths have original art pieces made by the booth owner themselves, collectors items like Hess Trucks, Matchbox cars, musical artist posters, figurines, coins, Mackenzie Childs, and even brand new, in the box, close out items no longer sold in stores.
📚Books, Books and more books
There are so many booths with books here! Whether you're looking for classics, special editions, blind-date-with-a-books, or even cook books, there are so many different types of booths that specialize in certain genres or types of books. While shopping, I was able to find a copy of Sweet Valley University, a classic amongst young millennials, and I purchased it to add to my growing collection of young adult classics from the 90s!
🥃Glassware
They have the most gorgeous glassware in a number of different booths! Much of it is divided up by color, so if you're looking to decorate or have a theme in mind, there are plenty of different options for choosing glassware and it's made easy to find exactly what you're looking for. So much of it is at a discounted price, meaning you can get a great deal if you're just looking for something nice for a dinner party or a wedding.
🚗🥎Nostalgic Collector's Items
Whether you loved comic books, VHS tapes, or just toys in general from your childhood, you can probably find an item here to help you remember your fonder memories from childhood. A number of booths are dedicated to collecting relics from the 1980s and 1990s, so you can find almost anything you're searching for. There is a ton of physical media as well as niche items like board games, fast food toys still in their packages, and every Matchbox or Hot Wheels car you can think of.
👚🥿👛Handbags, Clothes, Jewelry & Shoes
Clothes, shoes and accessories are bountiful at Penny Lane, with antique, costume, and even modern jewelry available throughout the store. This store is great for anyone looking for pieces that remind them of their teen or young adult years in the 80s or 90s. Think chunky handbags, strappy heels, and original Abercrombie & Fitch. If you're looking to simply shop on a budget for a new wardrobe, you may be able to find some great statement pieces!
What to look for at📍Seneca County House of Concern
The Seneca County House of Concern is a local non-profit that helps residents in Seneca County gain access to necessities like food and clothing. They host events and fundraisers every year to raise money and keep their food pantry going, but they also stock a thrift storefront for anyone to shop at. Everyday they go through donations from individuals and businesses to restock the sales floor for shoppers. They are constantly selling and stocking all kinds of items, so it's a great place to go to find that one special item. They have books, clothes, furniture, physical media like DVDs and VHS tapes, shoes, handbags, and a large amount of holiday and seasonal items close to whatever holiday may be happening.
📼Collectors Items and Physical Media
Whether you're looking for a popular VHS or DVD for your collection, there are plenty of choices here for your stockpile. They offer show series, Disney movies, video games for computers, and so much more.
👗💍Shoes, Clothes & Accessories
Similar to many thrift stores, Seneca County House of Concern offers a number of handbags, shoes, and clothing items at extremely discounted prices. Sometime they will even have items of clothing brand new with the tags still on them. Not only do they take and sort through individual donations from people, but sometimes stores like Walmart will donate old stock items that haven't sold in stores, offering brand new, never been used items.
🥣Glassware & Dishes
In the front of the store they have a few different collections of glassware including glasses, dinner plates and serving dishes. This gorgeous decorative set came with three other serving dishes and was only marked at $25!
✨Closeout, Name Brands
One of the best steals of the day when visiting Seneca County House of Concern last week was the large assortment of items they had, brand new still in the package from Claire's, a fashion boutique for teens and tweens. They had many different pairs of earrings, necklaces, keychains, purses and even journals all brand new, never used with the original tags on them for a fraction of the price they were when offered in store. In addition to this, they had an aisle of Easter decor and baskets that also came from a business donating their unsold stock to the non-profit. Plastic eggs still in the package could be purchased for a fraction of the price they would be in retail stores. They often offer things like this around a holiday, and while not guaranteed, it's still worth checking out!
What to look for at📍Ashia's Closet
Ashia's Closet was opened in 2023 and the owner says it's a boutique experience at thrift store prices. The store was opened in memory of Ashia Chilson-Gray, who was a local middle school teacher and a victim of domestic violence.
The store offers gently used men's, women's and children's clothing and accessories. The color purple can be found throughout the store to represent a symbol of peace, courage, survival, honor and personal dedication to domestic violence awareness.
👗🛍️Fashion
Ashia's Closet offers so many fashionable and practical options when it comes to clothes, shoes, jewelry and even handbags and undergarments. Their prices are incredibly low for the high quality of the gently used items they offer! This store was created for a good cause, and the care put into the items and store itself is a reflection of that. This is a must-see for anyone visiting the area and looking for a great place to thrift.
What to look for at📍LC New York
LC New York is a unique store that offers brand new items at low prices. They're a liquidation center, so their stock varies and turns over often, but they have a steady flow of certain items like televisions, garden items and furniture, toys for kids, and clothing. Everything in stock is brand new from the stores and distribution centers, offered to you at a greatly discounted price. Not only is their marked price usually far less than the original price, but they often offer a number of different sales to spend even less!
🥽🌊Seasonal
LC New York has an assortment of seasonal things from water and pool toys to outdoor garden and patio furniture! Many times they have some of this stuff year round, but in the spring you can find just a little bit more. Whether you need pottery for plants, and Adirondack chair, or inflatable pool toys, you'll likely find it here! It makes for great gifts at Easter time just as spring arrives.
🏀Toys
LC New York has a dedicated toy aisle similar to what you would find in the big box stores. A lot of these toys are marked down significantly, some even being half the price that they were when in the regular stores. You can find anything from dolls and nerf guns to name brand toys like Barbie, Hot Wheels, or Hello Kitty. This is a great option for gifts for kids if you're traveling or if you need to stock up for a holiday or birthday!
📺Televisions
They have some of the best name brands for televisions around, including Samsung and Vizio, and great prices! What costs upwards of $1,000 in full price stores is much cheaper here, and occasionally there will be a sale for tvs.
👕Clothes, Blankets
They carry many name brands for clothing including Gap, Juicy Couture, and so much more. Much of their clothing is seasonal so in winter you'll find coats, and in summer you'll find things like shorts and tank tops. They're also never in short supply of all kinds of blankets, which make great gifts for those that are harder to buy for!
🧳Luggage
One thing that makes a great gift and is always in high demand is a nice luggage set. Many times we forget we need them right before traveling, or we've simply bought too many things on our trips and are in desperate need of a new piece of luggage to fit those souvenirs. If any of these things are the case, one of the best deals you'll find around in Seneca County for brand new luggage is at LC New York.
Shopping in Seneca County
There are so many great opportunities to spend a day thrifting or shopping in Seneca County, and these are just a few suggestions for stores to stop at that have great things to offer or are great and supportive organizations in the community. Have you found any great thrift finds lately? Let us know in the comments!
