After striking out across New York, shopper finds brand-new Reeboks at thrift store

One thrifter learned that being in New York does not guarantee a successful shopping trip. 

While visiting the city, she hoped to swap out a much-loved old pair of Reeboks, only to come up empty at retailer after retailer. The solution ended up arriving at the thrift store.

Here's what to know

The story appeared on Reddit's r/ThriftStoreHauls forum, where the original poster explained that a weeklong trip to New York seemed like the ideal opportunity to replace the Reeboks she wears every day. She figured a city that large would surely have them.

"New York is bound to have them. It's New York, they have everything!" she wrote.

That confidence did not last. The OP said she checked "every shoe store and department store" they passed, but found either no Reeboks at all or only men's sizes. Along the way, the old pair she was trying to retire also became part of an absurd story after being used to "punt a rat down the sidewalk" on a dark night out on trash day.

Then came the payoff.

"Only when I had accepted my fate did the thrift gods bless me," the OP wrote. What turned up secondhand was almost exactly what she had wanted: "Brand new reeboks IN MY SIZE. PLATFORM reeboks in my size. They were even in the same cream color as my old ones were (originally)!"

More background

Many shoppers turn to secondhand stores for vintage clothing, collectibles, or one-of-a-kind finds, but thrift shops can also be surprisingly useful for everyday necessities, including shoes, jackets, cookware, furniture, and children's items.

They can also save shoppers significant money. Thrift stores often offer steep discounts compared with buying new, especially when someone needs a replacement item quickly. Sometimes those savings come with an even bigger bonus: rare, valuable, or hard-to-find products that have disappeared from standard retail shelves.

Buying secondhand also extends the life of usable goods. When a pair of wearable shoes finds a second home instead of sitting unsold or heading to the trash, it helps reduce waste while giving shoppers more options beyond buying brand-new products.

Where can I learn more?

These articles have the same thrift-store luck, where shoppers stumble upon standout finds after striking out elsewhere.

• At a thrift store, one shopper found an outfit retailing for hundreds.

• After checking labels, a shopper realized thrift store sweaters hid surprisingly premium brands.

• Across the United States, families can uncover staggering annual savings by thrifting everyday clothes.

These stories are a good reminder to check a thrift store before paying full price somewhere else.

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