Deseret Industries

Where can you get children's picture books, Sarah Vowell's humorous historical nonfiction, Jesus illustrations and a high-quality midcentury modern matching bedroom set? Deseret Industries. Deseret Industries is a chain thrift store run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, also known as "Mormons"). 

I lived with some LDS members in a foster-family-sort of situation, when I was a young teen. Long enough to figure out what an Elder was and some fundamentals of the belief system; also long enough to figure out I would never make a good Mormon. But they were nice people. 

At the Deseret Industries on Aurora, the clean, tidy clothes are hung as if in a department store, even organized by color, size, etc. 

Sometimes, visiting certain religiously-affiliated thrift shops gives you insight into that denomination. Here, I saw BYU sweatshirts, Missionary Journals, and pictures of snow-suffering pioneers being helped by white people? Ghosts? White people ghosts? 

If you want to know the story behind this picture, head to the LDS website. 

Jesus Doing Things was a popular theme of framed pictures, including Jesus hammering nails, Jesus carrying lambs, Jesus comforting a child, Jesus looking buff. Here, Jesus looking stoic about being priced at $5. 

The book section's disorganization made it difficult to browse, although I did find two Sarah Vowell books I've always meant to read. Tons of kids' picture books and Little House on the Prairie series. 

There was evidence of crafty types. The LDS informally ran most extracurricular activites in my rural town -- from 4H to Boy Scouts to coaching the baseball team. The uber-crafty LDS kids in my 4H club could probably make a couch out of a ball of twine, a discarded frock and an old stuffed animal. Yet the crafting area at this Deseret was wholly disorganized. Why?! 

The furniture here was spectacular, perhaps the best I've seen in Seattle at a thrift store. Five-piece mid-century modern matching bedroom sets in perfect condition. Pristine desks. Seemingly untouched bunk beds. All furniture was fairly large, best suited to a rambler-style home. Prices were on the higher end -- the matching living room tables above: $50/each. 

I never learned how to hit a ball, but it wasn't my (LDS) baseball coach's fault. I'm not really sure who buys other people's sporting trophies. I'm not one of them, but if you are, you'll clean up at Deseret Industries. 


Deseret Industries 
17935 Aurora Ave N, Shoreline, WA 98133 
Web: https://deseretindustries.org

The Purple Store

The Purple Store exterior

I've driven past The Purple Store for years now. I often wondered about the shop, but assumed that the store sold purplewear to Red Hat Society Ladies, and I'm not yet in that demographic. 

Recently, I discovered that The Purple Store sells all manner of brightly-colored purplery, including, but not limited to: 

• Purple duct tape

• Purple t-shirts

• Purple office chairs

• Purple K-state Christmas ornaments 

• Purple waste bags

• Purple luggage 

• Purple die for Dungeons and Dragons games

• Purple camo clothes 

• Purple Le Creuset kitchen stuff

• Everything you need to create an all-purple-accessory bathroom 

Rat-Cthulu dog toy, terrifying and mesmerizing

Most were in what might be called the royal purple or grape-purple hue. The incredibly nice clerk (wearing a purple sweatshirt) said sometimes they had trouble with ordering wholesale purple items, as it might look purple online or be described as "pearlescent" but ended up having not enough purple to really be called purple. It's a unique problem to face. 

Purple tees

According to a sign in The Purple Store, 8% of their e-mail list members have the word "purple" somewhere in their e-mail name. The shop's popular online retail marketplace offers additional purple items. I did a few searches, and it seems no other color can boast its own online and brick-and-mortar shop. 

So the owner's favorite color must be purple, right? Nope, blue. The owner happened upon the purle-store idea when he realized the enthusiasm of purple fans, the clerk told me. Appropriately, the shop's dedication to customer service includes special-ordering purple stuff for web or in-person shoppers. 

While I was there, a female shopper wearing a purple shirt blended right in, no camo necessary.

I asked if Red Hat Ladies did indeed shop here, and the clerk said indeed, they visited in small groups. 

Purple bags, trunks, camo and plush toys

Although black is my favorite color, I'm no anti-purple partisan, so I bought a teapot to replace our stained, broken and possibly lead-paint-colored yellow teapot. 

High-quality purple kitchenware

We were handed our purchase in a purple bag, with a purple receipt. If you're gonna go purple, you don't go halfway. You go full purple. 

If you want to visit The Purple Store, go soon -- it's slated for demolition to make way for condos and street-level retail. 

The Purple Store 
Address: 7616 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
Web: https://www.thepurplestore.com/