Cheap thrills

In the heart of a stark industrial area near Lincoln Heights stands an imposing hulk of a building, roughly the size of an airplane hangar. Its two parking lots are packed as if the Rolling Stones are performing inside. But the draw here is a different kind of thrill: the rush of stumbling upon a vintage Gucci amid a heap of castoff clothes, an authentic Stickley amid the forlorn furnishings.

This is, of course, a thrift store: St. Vincent de Paul, the granddaddy of the flourishing L.A. thrift scene. As a shopping experience, thrifts are a far cry from a manicured retail emporium -- St. Vincent’s is loud and chaotic and dusty enough to keep several allergists employed. In one corner of the massive main room, a wall of TVs tuned to different stations is blaring. On the other side, a couple of portly men are trying out exercise equipment and laughing. Workers are hauling sofas and refrigerators on trolleys to customers waiting out front.

But that chaos is part of the point: In L.A., thrift shopping is a competitive sport. Favorite places are staked out and kept secret. A terrific find is brandished with more pride than a new Prada; after all, it’s a better emblem of our enterprise and our discerning eye. And of course, a slightly scuffed midcentury desk is far cooler than anything newly minted by IKEA or Crate & Barrel or Pottery Barn -- all good enough places, but all selling a variation of the generic.

“Sometimes I’m looking for ideas, for inspiration, and sometimes for stuff for myself,” says Daniella Clarke, the owner and designer of Frankie B jeans and an inveterate thrift shopper. “That’s the big thrill of vintage -- the thrill of not seeing it on anyone else.”

The smart thrift-store buyer knows that quality furniture -- made from heavy hardwood, not pressboard -- can be had for a few dollars. They know that for an IKEA price, or cheaper, you can walk out with a lamp or side table or a coat that has real personality, pieces that may not be in perfect shape, but are unique or defiantly weird.

That’s why thrifts are the haunts of legions of set decorators, clothing designers and stylists -- people who are seeking inspiration as much as actual merchandise. And that’s why, as the L.A. thrift scene has grown, so has the lament: L.A. thrifts are so picked over.

Clearly, what is called for is a strategy, a battle plan, a way to attack the chaos. We wanted to know the best thrifts, sure, but we also wanted to know which were best for furniture. Or clothing. Or books. We asked. We shopped. We snooped.

Here’s what we discovered.

Furniture

One of the best thrifts for furniture is the Council Thrift Store in West L.A. Always crowded with a vocal mix of Beverly Hills matrons and down-at-the-heels bargain hunters haggling with the woman at the counter, this garden of hidden riches receives some first-rate donations. In the back room, past the scowling clown painting and the overflowing shelf of records, there are excellent pieces: inlaid china cabinets, elegant dining-room tables, space-age sofas.

You’ll have to find the one or two employees who know the prices, which can range from next to nothing to about $400, depending on the person you speak to and how long the piece has been sitting there.

“Thrift stores usually have a day when stuff comes in or when they restock, maybe a Wednesday or a Thursday -- I just ask the owner,” says Michele Harding-Hollie, set decorator for the comedy feature “Friday.” “And you really have to dig. You have to be persistent, and it’s better when you’re specifically not looking for any one thing. That’s when you’ll find something.”

Ellen Brill, another set decorator who frequents the thrifts, advises looking at furniture “as a starting point, raw material.”

“It might need refinishing, repainting, resanding,” says Brill, who does the sets for the TV show “Nip/Tuck.” “But if you have the right shape, you have something that could really be something. That’s what makes it so much fun.”

How much to pay for something that requires so much work? The zine Thrift Score, which was published in the late ‘90s, offered some inside advice from a thrift store cashier: “If you’re a hard-core thrifter hitting your fave spots regularly, you should be aware of the advantages and privileges of friendly relations with your thrift cashier/clerk. Though signs may be plastered everywhere at eye level stating ‘prices nonnegotiable’ ... to the experienced cashier, these ‘warnings’ are not to be taken seriously. Price reductions, quantity discounts, your own personal layaway or ‘hold’ service and insider tips, all this can be yours on request with a small amount of charm and finesse.”

Thrift stores also have occasional sales, when their already dirt-cheap merchandise becomes almost free. On a recent Friday night, dozens of customers are lined up at the Salvation Army in Pasadena eagerly awaiting the Moonlight Madness sale, where almost everything in the store is 50% off. A lady boasts about the purse she bought for $1.99. A family wonders which door will be opened first. “They have so many employees. They should open both doors,” one anxious woman says.

Finally, the doors swing open and people scramble and push their way in. Kids rush toward the toy section. A young woman drops her cellphone and temporarily abandons it, leaving someone else to retrieve it. One man grabs an automatic bread maker. A couple of people clutch VCRs. And a long line forms at the cash register.

Antiques and collectibles

Though the main Salvation Army store in Pasadena has a wide range of bargains, it’s the Salvation Army Antique Thrift Store on the next block that contains some of the most amazing finds in the thrift store universe. If you happen to be looking for a carved-coconut, monkey-shaped piggy bank with eyeglasses ($6.50); fancy, mariachi-style sombrero ($15); needlepoint of a raccoon ($8.50); antique tricycle ($25); musical snow globe with a newlywed couple inside ($30); or an amazing 4-foot cowboy with a lamp on his head ($65), go no further.

And aside from the knickknacks and kitsch, there are plenty of spectacular antiques too, especially in the back room, which overflows with classy furniture, antiquated radios, chiming clocks, Persian rugs and grand pianos.

Another can’t-miss spot for antiques is the attractive, old town section of Live Oak Avenue in Arcadia, where there are four thrift stores lined up and a Goodwill just down the street. In the small, cluttered B&S;, there are several portraits of Elvis that greet customers, and a velvet painting of a puppy that the owner will part with for $8, or perhaps for any price. At this thrift customers can bargain on a clarinet, Kodak movie camera, Chinese warrior figurine or antique typewriter.

Books and records

Valerie Kern, a registered nurse and a volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul, says it’s one of the few thrift stores where dealers don’t get the first crack at the merchandise. All the gems are put out with the rest of donations.

“One day I was going through a box of what I would call moldy oldies,” Kern says. “I pulled out a copy of a book called ‘Oil!’ by Upton Sinclair and as I was paging through it, I find a personal note signed and dated by Upton Sinclair. It’s really absolutely fascinating. You find things that you’re not going to find anywhere else.”

Most thrift stores’ book selections consist of long-forgotten bestsellers like “Little Drummer Girl” or “Iacocca: An Autobiography.” One of the few with a solid book section is the attractively arranged but often deserted Ticktocker Timeless Treasures in Culver City. On the paperback classics shelf, 25 cents each, are “Tropic of Cancer,” “Madame Bovary,” “The Assistant” and “The Grapes of Wrath.”

There’s a foreign language shelf, cheap art books, an excellent biography section and very current copies of magazines like the New Yorker, Time, Conde Nast Traveler and Gourmet, 50 cents each.

“Our apartment is stockpiled with books, novels and health books,” says Andrea Russel, who’s a painter. “I get a kick out of finding bargains.”

Shopping for books or records is mostly about luck. If you take the time to rummage through stacks of Andy Williams records, you’ll eventually stumble upon someone’s donated collection of classic jazz records or a pile of vintage exotica. At King’s Thrift Antiques in Arcadia, there’s a stack of records on the floor by Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan and Benny Goodman, a steal at $2 a pop.

Clothing

There are serious thrifters who claim Northridge has the best vintage ware because of all the old folks who live there and donate. Others are loyal to thrift stores in Long Beach, Ventura or Duarte.

“You have to drive around in an area that you don’t frequent all the time and find little, out-of-the-way thrift stores -- they usually have the best stuff,” says Randy Harrington, who owns the clothing store Unruly in Old Town Pasadena. “Things aren’t going to be right out in front of you. You have to really look. You have to get down at a low eye level and look in the corners and you see the coolest things poking out of the floor.

“This is another secret,” she adds. “Every day during the week at 7 or 8 in the morning, they have an auction at the Salvation Army in Pasadena, and there might be a handful of people there. I’ve seen huge, big-screen TVs in perfect working condition go for $20, and it’s the same people that go there every day and they don’t tell anyone else because it’s this great secret. You have to go to the bigger thrift stores and ask if they have these auctions because they don’t advertise them.”

One thrift store that draws massive crowds when changes its inventory is the UCLA Medical Center Auxiliary Thrift Shop in West L.A., which receives new sample clothing from downtown designers and marks the items down from, say, $1,000 to $100. There are $65 London Fog overcoats and a designer rack with women’s formal outfits ranging from $95 to $175. There’s also a head-turning black evening gown for $40, a $15 green silk scarf and a $10 embroidered skirt.

And of course, thrift store style is being widely imitated in the design world, with fake vintage lines of clothing that include sweatshirts made to look old and ratty and T-shirts with out-of-date insignias.

Clark, the Frankie B designer, based a new line of sunglasses on a collection of ‘70s shades she picked up at L.A. thrift stores. And recently, she bought an old Led Zeppelin album, just to study what the band was wearing in the cover shot. Not long after, she designed super-low-waisted men’s jeans, with a boot cut and vintage finish.

“They looked,” she says, “like they stepped right out of that album cover.”

And you can bet they didn’t cost $1.50.

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Happy hunting grounds

Thrift stores are a vast and expanding universe in Los Angeles. Here are some of the best, and some tips from veteran thrifters.

St. Vincent De Paul

210 N. Avenue 21,

Lincoln Heights

(323) 224-6280

A must-see for serious thrifters. It has everything in the world, especially big items; just be wary about appliances.

Council Thrift Shop,

11571 Santa Monica Blvd.,

West L.A.

(310) 477-9613

A small, superb selection of furniture and a large selection of records.

Salvation Army,

56 W. Del Mar Blvd.,

Pasadena

(626) 577-4649

Check out the sofas, dining tables and dressers.

Salvation Army Antique Thrift Store

35 Waverly Drive,

Pasadena

(626) 795-0274

You might find anything here, from a player piano to a kangaroo figurine.

Goodwill

14760 Ventura Blvd.,

Sherman Oaks

(818) 990-0421

Good for women’s clothes and dishware.

B&S;

34 E. Live Oak,

Arcadia

They’ll lower the price before you ask.

King’s Thrift Antiques

52 E. Live Oak Ave.,

Arcadia

Good selection of records, decent furniture.

Ticktocker Timeless Treasures

9441 Culver Blvd.,

Culver City

(310) 559-8338

The best for books and magazines. Also check out the Gold Room for women’s clothing and accessories.

UCLA Medical Center Auxiliary Thrift Shop

11271 Massachusetts Ave.,

West L.A.

(310) 478-1793

Designer and evening wear for women at fair, but not cheap, prices.

2nd Thrift Store

3337 1/2 Sunset Blvd.,

Los Angeles

(323) 665-7172

A stylish mix of molded plastic furniture from the ‘60s, stainless steel cabinets and lots of great ‘50s and ‘60s chairs.

Out of the Closet

1136 S. Fair Oaks Ave.,

South Pasadena

(626) 403-2333

Wedding dresses,

T-shirts, men’s clothing

and books.

Wright Price

1329 Huntington Drive,

Duarte

(626) 301-1333

The sign out front just says “Thrift Store.” Inside is

a boutique with fine furniture, jewelry, odd curios and vintage women’s clothing.

Out of the Closet

6241 Laurel Canyon Blvd.,

North Hollywood

(818) 769-0503

Watch for a few amazing items from nearby studios.

Salvation Army Boutique

6130 Lankershim Blvd.,

North Hollywood

(818) 985-6098

A bit overpriced, but some excellent high-end items.

Salvation Army

1444 N. Citrus,

Covina

(626) 332-2116

A gigantic place that’s particularly good for furniture.