Goodwill Industries International has been enjoying an increase in merchandise donations, so the organization is opening stores across the U.S. — and thus bucking the downsizing trend that has become associated with all too many large retailers. Rockville, Md.–based Goodwill Industries operates some 3,200 stores across the U.S. and Canada through 165 independent local chapters. A relatively strong U.S. economy has helped generate more donations to thrift stores like Goodwill, driving growth in the number of resale stores nationwide by about 7 percent yearly for the past two years, according to The Association of Resale Professionals.
Oakland, Calif.–based Goodwill Greater East Bay, which serves the northern California counties of Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano, is planning to open three stores per year for the next few years, according to Jim Caponigro, president and CEO of the local chapter. The local network opened a store in Walnut Creek in July and plans to open stores in Oakland and Fairfield by the end of 2017, in addition to completing renovations on its Concord store, which is scheduled to reopen in September.
In Southern Nevada, the number of Goodwill stores has more than doubled over the past five years. Goodwill Southern Nevada, which operated eight stores in 2012, now has 20. In October 2015 Goodwill took space in a former Dillard’s department store in The Boulevard, in Las Vegas, making it the first Goodwill to open in a major enclosed mall.
In July 2017, the Charles Town, W.Va., Goodwill relocated an existing Goodwill store into a former Staples space. “In a time when many stores are closing their doors, we feel blessed to continue to provide a unique shopping experience for our customers,” said John N. McCain, CEO of the Charles Town Horizon Goodwill.
“In a time when many stores are closing their doors, we feel blessed to continue to provide a unique shopping experience”
At press time, Billings, Mont., was set to see a second Goodwill store open, with a late August date. Officials of Easter Seals–Goodwill Northern Rocky Mountain, which operates stores in Montana, Idaho and Utah, say a new store was needed as a result of increased donations. The $1.7 million store will measure 21,500 square feet, of which 12,500 square feet will be devoted to retail and the rest to storage for the nonprofit’s online market, ShopGoodwill.com. The first Goodwill store in Billings opened in 1980.
Goodwill is pushing beyond its traditional interior and exterior store designs, as well as upgrading some of its merchandise selections. Four years ago it launched a few boutiques offering fashion brands, in selected markets; today the organization operates 60 of these. And last year Goodwill of Southern Los Angeles County began experimenting with a new concept called Edgar & James, named after Goodwill’s founder, the Rev. Edgar James Helms, a Methodist minister with a heart for the immigrant poor of his day. This new format offers trendier, slightly higher-priced merchandise. The first of these, which opened in March 2016, in Redondo Beach, Calif., features a design that some have described as “farmhouse-urban chic,” including exposed brick walls, hardwood floors and a sliding barn door. The second Edgar & James opened in the Long Beach suburb of Bixby Knolls this past July.
Local Goodwill officials are hoping to build on the success of the Edgar & James stores. “The reality is that we wanted to be in Bixby Knolls and other communities that don’t want that Goodwill store feel in their communities,” said Janet McCarthy, president and CEO of the Southern Los Angeles County Goodwill. “You wouldn’t know it was a Goodwill, but it all goes back to the same mission.”
By Ben Johnson
Contributor, Commerce + Communities Today
