EDMONDS — Business is brisk at the new Edmonds Goodwill thrift store. The 16,700 square feet are packed with merchandise – jewelry, designer purses, artwork, unique golf clubs, gently used furniture, crystal goblets, a decorative animal horn.
This is not the Goodwill of days gone by. No dingy lighting, narrow aisles, merchandise in mayhem or the pervasive scent of previously worn clothing.
Merchandise is displayed with flair. Departments are designated. Displays are changed daily. There are special sales every month.
“Our shoppers like the treasure hunt,” said Joann Conrad, the store’s manager. “They may come in looking for a replacement for a broken pot lid or a Halloween costume. What they find is a specialty boutique, a new store to shop and a new way to shop.”
Conrad previously managed the Lynnwood store, which posted more than $3 million in sales last year.
“We have created a clean, bright and cheery store, and we are happy how well received we have been in the community,” Conrad said.
The store opened Dec. 1 to a crowd at the door. The store’s location is a prime spot.
“Being right on the way to the ferry, it is easy to drop off donations,” Conrad said. “We are easy to get to and from the freeway, and our best customers shop the Lynnwood, Shoreline and new Edmonds stores.”
Donations are sorted and priced for sale at the Edmonds store. Some collectables are sent to the online arm (www.shopgoodwill.com) of Goodwill Industries, a national nonprofit focused on job training, with 2,400 retail locations.
The Edmonds store also is an electronic waste recycler, where televisions, computers, printers and monitors can be dropped off.
The Edmonds Goodwill employs 47 people. Some of those employees come to the location from Goodwill’s job-training program. Others are Edmonds residents and area students.
Three of the store’s workers are from Goodwill’s retail training program, where they were given free instruction about customer service, merchandising and computer skills, including operating the cash registers. The group then helps trainee graduates find jobs and follow their career paths.
“All the wonderful things that happen in the store translate to the program,” said Katherine Boury, communications manager for Seattle Goodwill.
Goodwill Edmonds
10117 Edmonds Way 425-977-2090
Hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
Donations: 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 7:30 a.m.- 6 p.m. Sunday
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