The quality of the floor tiles is a clue to the age of this store/building, but it's kept…read morerelatively clean. The organization is a bit awkward, with various supplies (e.g., lawn, and garden, items) scattered throughout, and lengthy displays in divider aisles creating zig-zag paths. Apart from learning a good pattern to go through the store, the inventory is pretty good, and there were many employees active getting shelves ready for spring supplies. It was also convenient that I had received emails with electronic coupons earlier that morning. There's certain things I look for at an OSJL, and once I found those, I was quite satisfied. Everything was well stocked. As is typical here, there were some great deals, and some maybe not-so-competitive ones. Checking out was a breeze with a friendly cashier. While my favorite Job Lot is the one in Ballston, this one is now the one closest to me, given that the Albany store closed a few years ago and has not reopened elsewhere. It's definitely worth my time to shop here.

BEWARE the crazy deals you receive in your personal emails from OSJL does not apply to online…read moreshopping, even though you are directed by prompts from your personal email to purchase their crazy deal, only to find out after you pick up your product at store location from online order, paid in full, that the crazy deal doesn't apply to your online purchase because you signed in as a guest... no they send you an email and when you click on it and it automatically brings you to online shopping site as a guest and you make the purchase wait for it to arrive at store already paid for... to be given a phone number that tells you nope you don't get it. This is an outright scam and a nice undermining way to rob customers.

everything is disconted and good quality . I love everything about it the staff are friendly and…read morekind.

Great prices and a wide variety of women's clothing, shoes, and accessories. Small section for mens…read moreclothing. Plenty of good deals on house hold items. Staff is very friendly as well

Mon - Friday 12-6pm Saturday 10-4…read more Sunday is closed. If they're closing early, they will post on Facebook I like this store because you can find discounted items like stuff from target at a cheaper rate.

UPDATE; when I shopped in this store the next week an employee made good on my poor experience and…read morelet me pick a replacement item out of the bins. They also were very apologetic and kind. Will update my review accordingly. Honestly after having shopped here for awhile I'm disappointed that this store could be selling potentially dangerous food products to its customers. Went in here on a Thursday when it was $2.00 and purchased many items like clothes, cd's, and a couple food items (cheerios and panettone bread). Went to open the panettone bread today and there was a large chunk missing out of the bread and someone had very deceptively re sealed the box with packaging tape on the bottom. I understood that no refunds are given and all sales are final and no returns. I took it back anyway feeling they would want to know about this. We just received a response of oh wow and sorry. I did expect that they would refund the $2.00 as this was very deceptive to resell a food product that had been opened and very discreetly resealed but no refund was given. I urge all customers here not to purchase food items as they may be potentially dangerous. if they have been resealed. I'll still be a customer for other items here but will never purchase food because of the safety of how food is handled.

A jewel in the area. The business owners are friendly and treat you like friends and family. It…read moreoffers many activities for families who live in the area or are traveling through the area. Schools are welcome for pre-arranged field trips. The mall has none of the International or Nationally recognized giants which gives it a local flavor. It's definitely evolving the last few years into an appreciated asset to the area.

We always have a great time at via port rotterdam mall. The aquarium is awesome, the local…read moreIs great for the little ones and adults, the ninety nine headlamp great food!!! Fun fun fun!

When I wanted to donate a sofa and matching loveseat that were in very good condition, I contacted…read moreHabitat and left an email message. I received an email back in a reasonable amount of time considering how busy they must be. The person in charge of donations asked me to send a photo (which is totally understandable) before pick up was approved. Shortly after, an appointment time was set for pick up. I had the furniture placed in the garage as requested. The truck came within the designated time, and furniture was taken to the truck efficiently. I would say it was "professional operation." When it was picked up, one of the two men said, "This furniture is in great condition. Thank you for your kind donation and for thinking of us." I was happy to donate to a good cause and will continue to do so. Three years ago we donated oak kitchen cabinets when our kitchen was remodeled. I saw that they were sold for $550. I was pleased to help an organization with such an outstanding mission.

This review is for ReStore, the store front for used furniture and recycled fixtures and appliances…read morethat Habitat for Humanity runs in downtown Schenectady. Habitat itself is an outstanding organization and does great work. The H for H offices are located on Pearl, so this should be recategorized in Yelp as Home Furnishings / Retail Furniture, not Contractor Services. First off, hours: Thursday 10-6, Friday and Saturday 10-3. Tip: if you come early on Thursday, you'll have your best chance of getting pick of the new stock for the week, since they're closed the other days but continue to collect donations. So this is basically a thrift store specializing in furniture. It's everything you'd expect from a place that runs on donations. The stock is not by any means new or in style, but they do a good job in filtering out items so you don't have any dirty or unusually smelly items. Some of the items I looked at were broken or had significant flaws, but they for the most part seem to have filtered out truly unusable stuff. They do have a little bit of everything, and the repurposed fixtures (including doors and windows) are probably the cheapest you'll find anywhere. I had a little difficulty at first getting appropriate help - there were many volunteers but they had to find the chief guy in charge to do pricing for me, and they kept asking me the same questions about the items I picked out (as to whether they belonged in a set or not, like that matters for very used furniture) - but it's hard to quibble with volunteers on the basis of the service. They tried, even if they weren't as organized about things as they could be. Be patient with this sort of thing if you go in. If Design on a Dime ever does a Schenectady show, they'll love it here. I have a lot of fun speculating about previous owners of many of these items. (I really got a hoot about the five-piece living room set I saw on my most recent visit, where there was a built-in Stereophonic Console in the corner table unit. 1966, here we come!!) I also urge you if you do go, round up on your purchases and throw the extra money into the donation kitty. This group builds houses for people, and does it in a way that brings the people who will live in the house and own it into the building process. It may be unfortunate that this is needed, but it is, and doing a little shopping here can help this effort while helping yourself. One caveat: from the blank expressions I got when I asked if they check for bed bugs on the furniture upholstery, I'm going to guess that they do not do their own screening here. So given the reality of bed bugs and older pieces of furniture, I urge you to check for yourself. This is true for any used furniture these days. Update: adding a fourth star after multiple visits - the stock really does zing in and out (well, some of it) and Thursday mornings are definitely your best bet. The second floor, which I neglected earlier, has miscellaneous small fixtures, lamps, plumbing stuff, and so forth.

Another outpost of the Whitney, the Friends of Schenectady County Library volunteer-staffed used…read morebookstore, and just as good in terms of selection, organization, and value. It's smallish (see picture) but a huge improvement over not having a bookstore in the mall. My only real quibble is the hours (see photo for hours as of late August, 2023); they make it hard to combine a swing by the bookstore with a trip to the Local or the movies, pretty much the only things that draw us to Viaport these days (although perhaps more on the schedule of the fans of the aquarium). We barely had time to take a gander arriving for a movie matinee when they were closing up! Sales support the excellent county library system and the place is a pleasure to browse, so stop in sometime and find something to take home.

From the owner: Used bookstore operated by Friends of Schenectady County Public Library. New and classic fiction…read moreand non-fiction books in almost-new condition at very reasonable prices. We also carry games, puzzles and DVDs. Proceeds benefit library programs and purchase of new materials for the library.

BJ's Wholesale is my happy place. Never busy -- feels like I've got my own private Costco, but…read morewithout the bumper cars in the aisles. Shelves are always stacked high, everything clean enough to eat off the floor (not that I tried... yet). The workers? Absolute gems. Friendly, helpful, and actually look like they want to be there -- rare find these days. Only hiccup is the deli counter, which sometimes moves slower than a sloth on vacation. But hey, the prices and offerings are worth the wait (and where else can you get enough cold cuts to feed a football team?). The crown jewel? Mobile checkout. Scan, pay, bounce. No waiting, no lines, no nonsense. Straight in, straight out -- like shopping on "easy mode." BJ's, you've officially got me spoiled.

This is not a bad place overall there's a few things that make it so that I am not excited about it…read moreand the reason why it lost a couple stars. First off let me start off by saying that the appearance of this place is not horrible, but not good either I understand that you're walking into basically a warehouse turned into a grocery store. My only issue is that it's still looks unkept in a lot of areas. They do have a machine that goes around and does inventory and it does not care that if There's a customer in its way it just plows right through you. I had my cart and was looking at ribs and it came around the corner and kept coming until it hit me not hard, but in other words, it wasn't moving from its path, which is strange to me because I see it move other times and I'm not exactly a small person. Another thing that I'd like to add that lost a star for me is the fact that you would think that with this you're buying in bulk to save money. I was looking at the ribs there and we ended up purchasing the ribs. We ended up getting less than what we originally planned . Also, it was hard to find what we were looking for because they were all over the place one was in one section another, and another section instead of just having them all together. And then when we went to another store, I found ribs that were actually cheaper and a better quality, but because we already purchased them, we did Not Buy the ones that were there. Overall, it does have pretty much everything that you're looking for it's just a matter of how much you're willing to spend and is it really bulk or are they saying bulk but not meaning bulk. Check it out if you're ever in the area make a decision on your own. It's not a horrible place. Just some things that could be improved. Thank you for listening.

Sain's Discount is a neighborhood convenience/grocery store and full service deli. They have plenty…read moreof snacks, chips, cold drinks, coffee, ice cream, frozen foods, tobacco products, household products in the back, flooring looks updated. The full service deli counter near the front of the store offers halal foods, breakfast sandwiches, pizza, fried chicken, chicken tenders, potato wedges, empanadas, fried fish, sandwiches, gyros, burgers, falafel & rice, and salads. The prices seem pretty reasonable. I ended up ordering takeout from Sain's Deli through DoorDash since I had credits to use. I ordered the Beef Gyro Combo with Fries & Can of Soda ($7.99 plus tax) on the DD App. I arrived early and they were making my food on the grill and fryer with food items stocked from the glass freezers in the back. The place was steady with customers stopping in for takeout food, snacks, and pizza slices. My food was ready for pickup in about 17 minutes after placing my order. The good sized gyro had soft grilled beef gyro meat (4) with tomatoes, grilled peppers, onions, and lots of yogurt dressing on a soft flatbread. The slightly thick golden fries were hot with a firm texture. I also got a can of cold Sprite to go with the food. Overall, I was satisfied with the gyro and fries and cold drink for under $9 (in 2023).

From the owner: Deli meat, cold and hot sandwiches, chicken wings, burgers,smoothies, grilled sandwiches, fruit…read moresalad,cold beverages, snacks, groceries, tabbaco.

I went in to browse and found some lovely books for my grandsons and a birthday card for my sister…read more What a large assortment of stunning items for almost everyone I know. Free membership that doesn't expire. Discounted items (including book shelves of them as well) from holidays and their book selection offers. Helpful, kind present people working there. It's downtown Schenectady so street parking. (Best to go on Sunday)

The Open Door is Schenectady's locally-owned independent bookstore and gift gallery, serving the…read morecapital region for 50 years. We carry a wide selection of literature for adults and children, including those of local and regional interest, as well as an expansive variety of toys, gifts, jewelry, stationery, personal accessories and home goods. Located in the heart of downtown Schenectady on the Jay Street Pedestrian Mall, they are around the corner from Proctors Theatre and many restaurants. There is lots of parking. The knowledgeable staff is wonderful to deal with in person or by telephone. The store even offer a frequent shopper rewards card. I had to pick up a book I ordered. Like many people, I prefer to support small businesses rather than Amazon and large mall bookstores whenever I can. The store was packed with great displays of books and gifts artfully arranged. I am always impressed with the space and attention devoted to books etc. for children. Before I checked out with the book I ordered, I selected a children's board book, three greetings cards, a stained glass frame for a 5 X 7 photo, and an adorable pair of llama socks for my young granddaughter. Great retail therapy!