City-wide, thrift junkies are abuzz over the opening of the latest Buffalo Exchange in Davis Sq. The Somerville store is the first New England location for the national consignment heavyweight and the chain’s reputation of quality, stylish pieces at discounted prices holds up well in the two-story Elm St. outpost. At street level, shoppers are greeted with an admittedly meager rack of Halloween costumes (there has got to be more on the way, no?), but just behind sit two racks of coats, jackets and blouses, a wall of sweaters and a small men’s section. Down stairs boasts a wall full of shoes, opposite a wall full of jeans, both surrounding multiple racks of dresses. It is, I must say, quite lovely. All of the merchandise appears of high quality, though we’d prefer a less intense return policy (within 5 days? Who has time to decide on an item and get back to the store in 5 days? Only store credit with receipt and tags? Yeesh.)

The original Buffalo Exchange was opened in Tucson, Arizona in 1974. A swap meet and thrift store addict, founder Kerstin Block wanted to create a store that would buy, sell and trade clothing items and accessories in a fun and socially responsible way. Originally from Sweden, she chose a name that sounded American to her (“buffalo”) and also described what they were trying to do with the business (“exchange”)—and thus Buffalo Exchange was born. The company now has 37 stores and two franchises in fourteen states, making $56.3 million a year in sales.

A company of that size has a lot of power, and Block and her husband (who is also co-owner) decidedly use it for good. Besides the environmental benefits of reusing and recycling clothing, Buffalo Exchange raised over $25,000 for Save the Whales at their Earth Day Dollar Sale in April. The company also donates used fur to The Human Society’s Coats for Cubs program that provides bedding to orphaned and injured wildlife. The Buffalo Exchange website also claims that, through their Tokens for Bags program, shoppers are encouraged to accept a token instead of a bag for purchases and the company donates five cents to a charity of the customer’s choice. Though this TeaPartier was not offered a token in exchange for stuffing her new shoes into her camera bag, the site reports that the program has generated almost $320,000 for hundreds of nonprofits since 1994 and has saved 6.4 million bags.

Still, we would be remiss if we did not mention that, despite its good deeds, Buffalo Exchange is still a national chain. It is the Wal-Mart to the mom-and-pop shops of local favorites such as Poor Little Rich Girl, Garment District, Second Time Around and the Closet—who not only paid their dues cultivating a market for quality vintage and consignment in Boston, but also will undoubtedly hold their own against the new giant in the neighborhood. Still, if you’re going to get your new party dress at Buffalo Exchange (which we would recommend, the selection was great), at least get your coffee at Diesel instead of Dunkies.

–Jessie Rogers