The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Eco-friendly shopping
Vintage thrift stores offer next to new goods
Earth Day is April 22, and if you’re looking for ways to be a better steward of the planet, we’ve got one for you.
Try shopping local thrift stores for pre-used clothes, furniture and toys that you’d otherwise buy new.
The Label Exchange
The Label Exchange in Fairfield sells resale and overstock luxury clothes brands. Those include Louis Vuitton, Versace, J. Crew, Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch and more. Products are available from the store’s online shop.
The website also lists locations for people to recycle their old clothes when they are done with them, to stop the cycle of waste.
Max and Lily’s Closet
Max and Lily’s Closet is a children’s thrift shop that has been open for 10 years in West Hartford. The shop sells consignment children’s clothes, accessories, toys and furniture.
The West Hartford store is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 585 Prospect Ave., West Hartford.
Carousel Thrift Shop
Carousel Thrift Shop is housed inside the old stone building of Southport Congregational Church. The store is run completely by volunteers.
It sells high-quality, gently used items, according to its website, including clothing and accessories, small kitchen appliances, home decor, linens and stationery items. The store will also occasionally accept furniture on a caseby-case basis.
The store is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday at 524 Pequot Ave., Southport.
EBM Vintage
This downtown New Haven vintage shop has been open for 15 years and offers midcentury homewares, “antique ephemera” and vintage clothing from the 1920s through the 1970s, according to its website.
The store is open noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday at 839 Chapel St., New Haven.
MINE in Mystic
According to MINE’s Facebook page, the shop sells furniture, crystals and vintage treasures. The store also sells unique reclaimed art pieces, like a wooden angler fish and other nautical signs that display the word “Mystic.” MINE will also hold occasional specials, like the fourth item purchased is free.
The shop donated 33 percent of its sales from March 16 to 21 to charities benefiting victims of the bombings in Ukraine. The store is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 16 Stonington Road, Mystic.