North of the 210 freeway on Altadena Drive, ACTS Thrift Store gives Pasadena a secondhand shopping option with an unusually direct funding model behind it. The store is run by All Out Caring Thrift Store Inc, a nonprofit that describes its purpose as dedicating itself to spreading deep positive local impact every day, and it backs that statement up by returning one hundred percent of net proceeds to the community rather than distributing profits elsewhere. That is a meaningfully different structure from a typical national thrift chain, and it is the detail that most sets ACTS apart from competitors in the same secondhand retail space.
The sales floor covers the categories shoppers expect from a full service thrift store: clothing for men, women, and children, shoes and accessories, furniture including sofas, tables, and dressers, household goods and kitchenware, books, and toys and games. What separates ACTS from a slower moving secondhand shop is sheer volume and speed of turnover, with more than sixteen thousand new items added to the floor every week, frequently including designer labels mixed in among standard inventory. For bargain hunters willing to dig, that scale of weekly restocking means the odds of finding something worthwhile on any given visit are considerably better than at a smaller, slower turning shop.
ACTS also distinguishes itself through services that go well beyond a typical drop off donation bin. The organization offers free pickup for furniture and other large items across Southern California, including professional disassembly when a piece is too bulky or awkward to move as is, removing a common barrier that keeps people from donating heavier furniture in the first place. Year round e waste acceptance rounds out the donation side, giving the community a responsible outlet for electronics that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
The nonprofit is explicit about where its proceeds go, directing support to six specific local partners working on homelessness and poverty rather than spreading funds thin across a broad, undefined mission statement. That kind of named, local partner structure gives donors and shoppers a clearer sense of impact than a vague reference to charitable giving, and it is a meaningful point of differentiation from larger national chains operating under a similar thrift store model but with less transparent, more centralized proceeds.
The Pasadena location keeps generous hours to match its high inventory turnover, open Monday through Friday from 9 in the morning until 7 in the evening, Saturday from 9 until 6, and Sunday from 10 until 5, giving working shoppers plenty of evening and weekend windows to stop in. The store sits at 1311 North Altadena Drive, easily reached from the surrounding Altadena and northeast Pasadena neighborhoods, and can be reached by phone at 626-577-4477 for questions about donations or pickup scheduling.
For Pasadena area shoppers and donors looking for a thrift store where the proceeds stay close to home, ACTS combines a large, constantly refreshed inventory of clothing, furniture, and household goods with a donation pickup service that handles the heavy lifting literally. In short, ACTS Thrift Store in Pasadena is a nonprofit secondhand retailer that returns all net proceeds to local homelessness and poverty focused partners while restocking more than sixteen thousand items every week.
