Del Mar doesn't have a thrift corridor. It has two shops. But those two shops sit on top of one of the deepest designer donor pools in San Diego County, which means the inventory-to-storefront ratio in Del Mar is unlike anywhere else on the coast. The closets that empty out in Del Mar feed the consignment racks across the entire region — Little Love and Boulevard in La Jolla, the resale boutiques in Encinitas, and the two Del Mar shops themselves. If you want to be closer to the source than anyone, you go where the source actually lives. That means Del Mar.
This is the short, sharp guide to thrift shopping in Del Mar. For the full county-wide ranking, see our top 10 thrift stores in San Diego.
Carolyn's Designer Resale — the answer to where Del Mar closets land
If you have ever wondered where the contents of Del Mar's walk-in closets eventually go, the answer is Carolyn's Designer Resale on Camino Del Mar. Del Mar is one of the wealthiest beach towns in California — the racing-season-and-Pacific-Coast-Highway version of old-money California — and Carolyn's is the shop that quietly resells what those closets cycle out. Expect designer denim, contemporary labels, structured handbags, and the occasional couture piece that arrived via someone who summers somewhere else. The inventory is selective rather than overwhelming, and the staff knows their labels. If you've ever been burned by a "designer resale" shop that turned out to be neither, Carolyn's is the antidote.
St. Peter's Thrift Shop — the church-run counterpart
A few blocks away on 14th Street, St. Peter's Thrift Shop is the volunteer-run, donation-funded counterpart to Carolyn's. Same donor pool, very different price tags. St. Peter's is where the housewares, books, kids' items, and casual apparel end up — the everyday stuff that doesn't make it onto the designer resale racks but still came out of some of the best closets in San Diego County. Volunteer-staffed, charity-supporting, and far more affordable than you would expect anything in Del Mar to be. Worth a stop on any thrift route through North County.
Why Del Mar is the top of the supply chain
Here is the thing most secondhand shoppers don't think about: Del Mar's designer inventory doesn't stay in Del Mar. It travels. The same closets that drop off at St. Peter's on a Tuesday morning are sending designer pieces to Carolyn's on a Thursday and feeding consignment racks at Little Love, Boulevard La Jolla, and Echoes a few miles south. Hunting the same pieces in La Jolla works fine, but stopping at Carolyn's and St. Peter's puts you closer to the front of the supply chain than anywhere else on the coast.
Pair it with the Del Mar Farmers Market
Both Del Mar thrift shops sit walking distance from the Del Mar Farmers Market at the Civic Center on Camino Del Mar. The market runs Saturday mornings and pairs naturally with a thrift stop and a coffee — the closest thing Del Mar has to a weekend ritual built around the slower side of the town. If you're building a North County thrift route, run Del Mar first when the racks are freshest, then drop south into La Jolla's thrift corridor with whatever space your trunk has left.
Browse the full directory at Del Mar thrift and vintage or Del Mar shopping. For the full county-wide ranking, see our best thrift stores in San Diego guide.
