Molly Granillo is checking out baby clothes at her favorite L.A. store. She's holding up a red "onesie" bodysuit for her three-month-old baby, trying to decide if she likes it better than a yellow jumpsuit.

"I shop here mainly because the quality of the merchandise is excellent," says the 29-year-old mother of five. "The prices are awesome. And the people are very friendly. A lot of the people who work here, they've been here for years."

Suddenly, a thought brings a chuckle: "I used to come here with my mother as a baby. It was a treat for everybody. And my mom used to come as a child with my grandmother. And my children will probably come here, too."

The woman in the flower-print summer dress isn't referring to a tony department store in Pasadena or Beverly Hills. No, she's talking about the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Lincoln Heights just off the Golden State Freeway.

Living only ten minutes away from the largest U.S. store sponsored by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Granillo practically grew up in the cavernous former paint factory, watching it grow and change firsthand over almost three decades.

"It's evolved in a really big way," she reports. "It used to be a big warehouse. They used to have piles and piles of bins of things. Now they have everything organized, with different rooms. Everything is very easily accessible."

As her own family has grown, the cost-conscious mom has bought a "nice" dining room table set, dressers, chairs and beds at the thrift store, which is 90 years old. She's picked out baby and toddler clothes for her five kids as well as blouses, pants and dresses for herself.

The store's furniture is especially good quality, she notes. Some pieces even qualify as antiques, but most older items are made of solid wood versus post-modern particle board. So it lasts. And even the reasonable prices aren't fixed in stone. She's bargained with clerks on everything, including clothes.

"I clothe my kids and myself here," Granillo declares. "I am very faithful to this place. This is a passion, a love that I grew up with. And I think it's become trendy, too. A lot more people are shopping at thrift stores."

One-stop shopping
In continuous operation since 1917, the 91,000-square-foot store has been called the "best thrift store in Los Angeles" by Los Angeles Magazine.

Besides racks of men's, women's and children's clothes, there are whole sections devoted to furniture, dishes, beds and mattresses, bric-a-bracs, computers, refrigerators, stoves, TVs, washers and dryers, electronic appliances, pianos and organs, shoes, bikes, books - even cars, trucks and boats lined up outside.

The "As Is" section is for die-hard bargain hunters, featuring boxes of clothes with buttons missing, little tears or barely noticeable stains plus small appliances like radios and DVD players that need some work to get up and running again.

The store's newest feature is a 99-cent mini-mart. Shoppers can buy drug store items like shampoo, shaving cream, toilet paper, battery cables, toys, sun glasses and pens, along with cereal, soup, soda and cookies.

"Basically, it's one-stop shopping," explains operations manager Tony Terrazas. "When you come in here, you can get razor blades, taco shells, toys - whatever you want, I can get for you. If you're already here, why waste gas? And a lot of neighborhood people walk here because they don't have cars."

That's one of the thrift store's bedrock goals - to serve poor and low-income individuals and families as well as older adults on fixed incomes. It also contributes to the local economy by employing about 80 men and women, who not only earn a living wage but also have full medical and dental coverage.

Moreover, profits on the sale of donations help fund the St. Vincent de Paul Society's charitable works, such as the Cardinal Manning Center's emergency and transitional housing programs on L.A.'s infamous skid row and the Circle V Ranch Camp for disadvantaged and at-risk youth near Santa Barbara.

The store also provides free clothing, furniture and appliances to the Society's mostly parish-based "conferences," so they can assist people experiencing financial emergencies or who are resettling in Los Angeles. In this way, the Council of Los Angeles helped many victims of Hurricane Katrina get a new start in Southern California.

"Weeks after that hurricane hit, we gave away stoves, washers, dryers, refrigerators, mattresses and couches, setting up whole apartments for people coming here," Terrazas reports. "But we're really a community-based store, and we're proud that we serve our community. There are people who come here seven days a week, checking on new items."

Nine trucks go out Monday through Friday, covering different routes collecting donated wares. A phone room with five operators handle requests, assigning pick up days and times to callers from across the Southland. At the four-bay loading dock, goods are off-loaded, then go to the production department.

With donated clothes, "sorters" and "hangers" work, in fact, at a production-line pace; while nearby, other workers sort shoes, belts, sundries, stuffed animals and other items. Before being put out on the floor, everything is given a suggested price tag.

"Even after working here for 10 years, I still love it," says Norma Acosta, who runs the retail clothing department. "It makes me feel good working here. The profits from the store are helping to run the skid row shelter and other programs of the Society.

"I love helping people receive free clothing," she adds. "They're always smiling. So that's special."

Picking and choosing
Coming from the store, John Olive checks out the cars for sale parked right out front. There's an 1984 Chevy Jimmy that looks like a real bargain for $2,000, an '82 Chrysler Cordova with 264,554 miles for $1,500, and an '85 Dodge Caravan going for $900 or the best offer, among other vehicles.

But the 68-year-old Hollywood resident man is really looking for a refrigerator with the freezer on top. He had his eye on one for two weeks, but today it's gone.

He drops by 210 North Avenue 21 at least twice a week, looking for clothes and shoes mostly. However, like with the refrigerator, he doesn't always find what he wants. "If you're picky like me," he says, "you pick and choose."

Olive is surprised to learn that the money he spends at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store goes directly to help homeless men and at-risk poor kids.

"That's nice that they do that," he says, nodding. "A lot of charities today take what's donated and they make a killing on it."

To arrange for a usable donation to be picked up by the St. Vincent de Paul Society, call (323)224-6280 or toll free 1 (800) 97 HELP 1.

Editor's note: This is the third and final part of a series on the St. Vincent de Paul Society's Council of Los Angeles.