Goodwill outlet store to open Tuesday in Salem
The Goodwill outlet store in Salem. Photo courtesy of Goodwill Industries of the Valleys
Goodwill Industries of the Valleys is opening the area’s first outlet store Tuesday in Salem next to the existing Goodwill store on East Main Street.
The idea for the outlet store came out of Goodwill’s successful warehouse auctions, said Lucie Touchton, spokeswoman for Goodwill Industries of the Valleys.
“We decided we wanted to open these deals to people more often,” Touchton said.
The outlet store will have items that didn’t sell in other Salem and Roanoke area stores. Those items will be sold either by pound or for a set price.
For instance, textiles (clothes, belts, purses) will be sold for $1.39 per pound. Customers who buy more than 25 pounds will receive a discounted price of 99 cents per pound.
Housewares and toys will sell for 59 cents per pound.
Books, shoes, small appliances, CDs, DVDs and electronics will have set prices.
Revenue from the outlet store support Goodwill’s training and employment programs.
All merchandise is sold as is, and all sales are final, Touchton said.
The store is located at 1489 East Main Street and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
March 8, 2013 - 7:30 AM
Be very leary of donating to Goodwill. Goodwill here in Roanoke does not want the public to know that any baby equipment donated (cribs,strollers,walkers etc) is crushed and thrown away. You could donate these items brand new and in the box and Goodwill crushes it. Goodwills in other states tell the public they don’t accept these things but not here. Goodwill in Roanoke is so selfish they dont inform the public about this because they think you will take all your donations elsewhere. Too many poor needy people to donate baby items to be destroyed. Take your donations elsewhere. The Salvation thrift store sells baby equipment as do other charities.
@Beverly: I know they don’t take car seats because they don’t know whether the seats have been in car wrecks and can’t guarantee that they will work properly. I will call Goodwill today to see about other baby items.
It’s pretty universally understood that cribs, strollers, car seats, etc… should not be purchased used and reselling/donating cribs is actually illegal according to federal laws. There is no way to know what they may have been through or what defects may be hidden. Knowing that not everyone can afford to buy new, I did attempt to donate some used baby equipment, and I was told by Goodwill staff that they could not sell it due to safety and liability issues. I was given the opportunity to load it back into my car; it was not taken and crushed. I don’t feel their adherence to this practice should warrant anyone feeing leary of donating to Goodwill and suggesting they are selfish for following accepted rules is toeing the line of irresponsible. I’m confident there are no plots to keep this a secret; this very easily could have just been a training issue/learning curve with the staff at the time. I would not normally comment on a blog, but the great things Goodwill does for communities and individuals compells me to speak up.
YEs, it’s a liability issue, because there have been situations where a car seat has been in a vehicle crash and been compromised, and re-sold, and been inadequate to protect the occupants in another crash situation, or even in daily use. With a lot of things like cribs, there are so many recalls for them that practically no one will allow re-sale. Plus, as Chelsea mentioned, in many cases reselling of used baby equipment is in fact illegal, due to the aforementioned safety concerns. That should be stated up front though, or at the very minimum posted. I know several places we donate to have a sign at their donation center listing what items cannot be accepted.
Take used baby items to Once Upon a Child! They sell it!
With donations in general.
Please be sure to clean them first!
I’ve worked the receiving dock for several stores and I now keep a pair of rubber gloves with me because some of the stuff that comes in is nasty.
If you are donating clothes, please run them through the laundry one last time. If you are donating household items, at least wipe them down to keep all the dust and grime off.
But on a positive note, if you are doing your donations for the tax write off. Jot down on a sheet of paper what all you are giving before you get there. And on their form you can just put down “See Attached List” and save some time
I have seen baby items at Goodwill many times– I was at the Rocky Mount store a few weeks ago and they had a jogging stroller.
People need to remember the risks of buying used baby items. Personally, common sense will hinder me from buying things, upon closer inspection. If it seems rickety, it isn’t worth the risk. Generally speaking, Once Upon a Child’s used strollers, cribs, etc seem to be inspected before reselling.
Items such as car seats, bike helmets (yes), and cribs actually expire. I know Goodwill doesn’t take the baby bathtubs, either. We had one brand new, never used that we donated and they would not accept it. Took it to the rescue mission instead.
Amanda, Kaboto (sp?) in Grandin closed already? For lease signs in the window. Lasted what? Two months?
What Goodwill does for a community is earn its CEO Mark Curran 2.3 million a year while he pays his workers minimum wage. Doesn’t get them off the welfare line. And yes Goodwill should be upfront and honest about what its gonna do with the high chair you just donated. This organization is exploiting the poor and handicapped. Its a business earning profits at the expense of handicapped and disadvantaged people.
And @Chelsea the employees who informed you they would not sell your items were breaking company policy.
Yeah, this is pretty common knowledge and it makes sense, too. Goodwill isn’t hiding anything from anyone.
Goodwill is a fantastic organization that does a tremendous amount of good in the community. “Selfish” is the last word I would use to describe them. They’re among the best-run, most efficient and effective nonprofits out there.
This is a question not a comment. What has happen to Padow’s on Franklin Road in Roanoke? Have they moved or gone out of business? I hope just moved.
I saw a baby walker / bouncer at the Roanoke 460 store this past Thursday.
@Bryan: Lindsey Nair reported on the closing of Kabuto. You can read her blog post here.
@Barbara: Padow’s changed to Dave’s BBQ and Deli about a year ago (click here to read about that). I believe the eatery has closed. I remember hearing that a few months ago, but I was never able to get in touch with the owner.
I heard back from Lucie Touchton, a spokeswoman for Goodwill. Here is what she said in an email regarding donations of baby items:
“We do not sell baby items such as car seats, furniture, strollers, etc. The reason for this is that there are a lot of product recalls for these items and we do not want to chance overlooking one of them and selling an item that might cause a danger to our customers/their babies.”
@ all, Beverly apparently got the false email about several charities including Goodwill. When you get an email, you have to check it out before you give it credence , especially before you pass it on. In this case a simple Google search for “Mark Curran Goodwill” will yield many sites that refute the allegations and a few that swallowed them. One of the sites that corrects the email is Snopes dot com. The evidence is this case is that Goodwill Interantional and the 165 independent Goodwill groups are useful not-for-profits, and that “Mark Curran” is not a CEO at any of them. “In 2011, Goodwills collectively earned more than $4 billion, and used 82 percent of that revenue to provide employment, training and support services to more than 4.2 million individuals.” Wikipedia
Before believing or passing on an email, do a Google search. Look at the sites that support an email and those that refute it. Read a couple, and you can often determine where the truth lies, or you may need to do more research.
To quote John Irving; “Rumors aren’t interested in the unsensational story; rumors don’t care what’s true.”
We only have a limited amount of time in our lives. If you don’t have the time to verify an email, just delete it and forget it. Why would you want to waste some else’s precious time by passing an unverified rumor on.
I went to the outlet store today, to me it looks a flea market. I love going to goodwill, but I don’t like the layout of this store.
AnnL, can we assume that what you copied from Wikipedia is in fact true?
You know they can’t put anything on the internet that’s not true.
By the way I’m a french model, Bon Jour!