My husband and I collect Beanie Babies. Yes, I know, those silly stuffed animals that were all the rage once upon a time. Thrift stores are a great source for us, because we find standard prices across the board and country(we're in Houston, TX now.) We also find a great selection and routinely find things we've never seen before. KARM is generally no different. Some of their stores have a lot of these things and we have filled two shopping carts to the brim. Others, we walk out with one or two. Recently, however, a real problem has come to light and it ended up with my husband and I being asked to leave a KARM store. We had started with the KARM off Kingston Pike were we loaded up, paying 50 cents for the regular size, a dollar for the large and three for a buck for the teeny ones. These are the standard prices I was referring to above, and we pay these prices here in Houston at Goodwill stores (which outnumber KARM by 10 - 1) We stopped in at the KARM on Merchants Road and were in the process of loading our cart when we asked a staffperson what the price was. We were told that they were at least twice (if not more) than what we'd paid at the Kingston Pike store. This was surprising to us as we were talking about stuffed animals that have no if any real retail value. We asked why and we were told that they had different pricers for different stores. I happened to remark that that was why I liked Goodwill stores because they had a standard price. This staffperson then snapped ""Well, then, you can just go to Goodwill."" I looked at her and before I could say anything she said ""I think you should leave."" HUH? My husband asked ""Are you telling us to leave?"" She said, that we HAD to leave. I inquired as to the reason and she said that we were being disrespectful to KARM. I had to laugh and I said ""Ma'am, I've been homeless twice at KARM and I've suffered a lot more slings and arrows than I have ever said in return, here or anywhere else. "" I still can't believe that anyone in the thrift store business would suggest going to a competitor, let alone react in the way she did. Both my husband and I left and immediately placed complaint calls to KARM. It has been two weeks since that date and neither of us have heard a word out of them. If you are going to shop at KARM thrift stores know two things: One, your money is never seen by the homeless. Two, Kingston Pike, Chapman Highway, and the store in Powell have the best selection and the best prices. The other stores are a rippoff and aren't worth your time in any way.
Pros: Good Selection
Cons: Different prices makes shopping confusing. Bad Staff
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