Is anyone familiar with any thrift stores, preferably run by charities, in Rome?

Thank you,
Ruth

The system for used clothes (I don't know about used anything else) is a little different in Italy. There are weekly (or more frequent) markets in every town, including Rome. At these markets there are loads of fruits and vegetable stalls and new home goods, from Italy, Africa, and increasingly, China.

Then there are the used clothing stalls. There you can buy just about anything from 3 items for 1 Euro (T's and jeans) to maybe 10 Euro for a used fur. Very popular and worth digging through. My friends and I often speculated on the origin...Germany for sure, (lots of KS) but also US brands. Anyway buy your heart out and give it all a good scrub and know you are truly re-cycling!

rdn...it just occured to me...maybe you are on the donating end of this question, not the purchasing end? if so, I heartily recommend a wonderful charitable organization in Rome: the Joel Nafuma Refugee Centre run by St. Paul-within-the-Wall (the American Episcopal Church). Here is the info!
http://www.stpaulsrome.it/english/jnrc/jnrc.html

If you are looking to buy, sniff the underarms! I learned this from a consignment store owner; old perspiration smells are almost impossible to totally remove.

Man I could kick myself for not notating the address but in late Dec. 04 I ran across a bonifide thrift store in Rome in the P.Navona area. It sold old jeans, US Army jackets, cowboy boots funky purses etc. Very typical looking thrift store, like one of the grungier ones in any town USA.

So, they're out there but may be few and far between.

Thank you for all your great responses!

Best wishes,
Ruth

I don't know if this will help but I just purchased a Knope Mapquide of Rome and it lists: Dakota al Pantheon, via del Seminario,111 Tel:06 0678 76 61 as a place to buy second hand clothing, shoes, furniture, and bric a brac.