Review: Pick of the Litter Thrift Store
Category: Thrift Store
Reviewed by: Selena Cate Green
Publication: The Secondhand Market Report
Location: Santa Rosa, California
Date: Late December 2025 (between Christmas and New Year’s)
Why This Review Exists
Pick of the Litter Thrift Store is a long-standing nonprofit thrift operation in Santa Rosa with a clear mission supporting cat welfare. This review examines how the store functions from a secondhand sourcing perspective, with attention to pricing behavior, inventory quality, and overall usability for shoppers and resellers navigating real-world conditions.
First Impression
The store is clean, orderly, and intentionally organized. Wide aisles and clear category separation make the space easy to navigate, signaling a functional, accessibility-forward retail environment. The experience feels calm and deliberate rather than fast-paced or crowded.
Location Change & Atmosphere
In late 2025, the store relocated from a smaller, character-filled space with challenging parking into a significantly larger former Joann’s Fabric location. The move dramatically expanded the store’s footprint, allowing for improved flow, clearer layout, and better accessibility.
The tradeoff is atmospheric. While the new location supports scale and ease of movement, it lacks some of the intimacy and visual texture of the previous space. The experience now feels more functional than personal—a shift that benefits operations but slightly softens the sense of place longtime shoppers may remember.
The expanded square footage has also introduced a period of adjustment. Although the wide aisles improve navigation, portions of the sales floor remain sparsely filled. The empty space reflects the challenge of scaling donation volume to match the store’s increased size.
What It Claims vs. What It Delivers
Claimed Purpose:
Pick of the Litter positions itself as a community thrift store supporting animal welfare through the sale of donated goods.
Observed Reality:
That mission is clearly reflected in how the store operates. Inventory appears curated rather than purely volume-driven, with fewer damaged or unsellable items than typically seen at larger thrift chains. Operational decisions—pricing included—appear shaped more by sustaining the mission than by attracting bargain-focused traffic.
Practical Performance (Field Use)
From a sourcing standpoint, pricing behavior varies noticeably by category.
Pricing: Inconsistent across departments. Some vintage items are priced affordably, while others reflect active market research.
Toys & Games: Frequently priced higher than comparable local thrift stores. Plush toys averaged around $6 during this visit, which is elevated for the region.
Books: Select titles appeared researched prior to pricing. A Jan Pienkowski Haunted House pop-up children’s book was priced at $20, despite recent eBay sold listings showing examples closer to $10, with some variation based on condition.
Shoes: Another consistently high-priced category. A pair of FJ shoes was priced at $47, limiting deal potential for value-focused shoppers.
The store receives quality donations overall, but shoppers should expect to pay closer to market value in several categories.
Reseller Considerations
For resellers, this is not a broad, high-velocity sourcing environment. Success depends on identifying what pricing may have missed rather than relying on blanket deals.
Some vintage items remain reasonably priced and may offer modest profit potential, particularly for resale through antique malls or slower, curated channels rather than fast online flips. Patience and selectivity are required.
Expectation Gap (%)
–20% (noticeably below expectations)
While the store met expectations in terms of cleanliness and mission, the overall experience leaned more toward price awareness than discovery. The visit lacked the “great deal” moments that often define successful thrift sourcing, with pricing across several categories limiting that sense of payoff.
Who This Is — and Is Not — For
Well suited for:
Shoppers who value mission-driven retail
Buyers seeking clean, usable secondhand goods
Those comfortable paying slightly more to support animal welfare
Not ideal for:
Deal-focused shoppers
Resellers seeking consistent high-margin inventory
Toy, book, or shoe sourcing with thrift-level pricing expectations
Bottom Line
Pick of the Litter Thrift Store prioritizes its nonprofit mission supporting cat welfare, and that focus shapes the entire shopping experience. While pricing may limit bargain-driven sourcing, the store offers a clean, thoughtful environment where purchases directly support a cause. Its value lies less in finding deals and more in aligning spending with community impact.
Editorial Note
Reviews published by The Secondhand Market Report are conducted independently and reflect firsthand observation. No paid placements or sponsored reviews are included unless explicitly stated. Additional photos from this visit are available on our Facebook page for readers who wish to see more of the space and pricing context.