Goodwill's precision leads to greater bounty for community

I had a grudge against Goodwill.

That's tough to admit, considering the nonprofit organization, which specializes in thrift store sales, only exists to help communities.

Even so, I tend to have bouts of I, me, my at times, and geez,  Goodwill, what have you done for me lately?

Goodwill would characterize me as a "treasure hunter," and through the years, I have come up with some great bounty as I sorted through all the odds and ends people donate.

You want examples of thrift store heaven? For $20, I bought a Lenox dinner set for eight of 1960s wheat pattern china. One piece to the set would cost $20 to replace, so it was quite the score. If you come over for Thanksgiving, you can check it out.

I landed a Peugeot bicycle for $40 and the TEAC record/CD player for $20.

Another major score was the Callaway Driver I picked up for $5. It retailed for more than $200 when new.

Anyone who has rummaged through a thrift store gets the point. You look at a lot of junk, but your effort is well-rewarded when you find that treasure.

The last few years, though, Goodwill has taken some of the fun out of the treasure hunt. It is more organized and more efficient when it comes to sorting and pricing items.

Then came my job switch and move to Lakewood Ranch in September. On the first day of my arrival, I saw my old friend, a Goodwill Store on State Road 70 near Lakewood Ranch.  

I walked through the doors. I must have been in the wrong place.

This place, for goodness sakes, was gigantic. At 23,000 square feet, it was the Taj Mahal of Goodwill stores. It was clean and the items were all marked correctly. No items were slopped over in the isles and the electronics items didn't have old cords wrapped all around them. Everything was tagged and lined up perfectly on the shelves. Was this a Walmart?

I huffed and puffed a bit and walked out.

On June 15, I returned at the invitation of Goodwill's Samantha Cummins, the director of marketing and public relations who was hosting an information session about how Goodwill goes about its business. This I had to see.

Members of the media had a tour guide, Alexa Olivas, who has been a company administrator for seven years. She led us over to a conveyor-belt system they like to call "the river." Donated items are sorted first in clothing and wares. The line continues with apparel being sorted further into women's, men's and kids. As Olivas said, it's mostly women's clothes because guys and kids wear clothes until "they can't be worn anymore."

The clothes continue to hangers and pricers and people who check tags for designer names. Linens are sized and folded. Furniture is researched for its worth and books are priced and sent to the floor. As opposed to the old days, when you grabbed something as it came "in" the door, items are touched by several people before making it out to the sales floor.

They even had a computer department now that not only will get that laptop working perfectly before it's sold, it will make repairs to your electronic devises if you are in the market. For those shopping for clothes, 50% of Goodwill's business at the Taj Mahal, be advised our local Goodwill sends 3,000 to 4,000 items to the floor every day.

They do it efficiently. So efficiently that I am left to ask, "Alexa, how am I going to beat this system?"

Alexa has fielded that kind of question over the years.

"We have bigger boxes (stores) now, and more stores," she said. "Every time we open a store it is to help somebody. Hopefully, our items are priced to go. Our goal is to sell the item here. If they last here three weeks, they go to our clearance centers in Palmetto and on Cortez (in Bradenton). If it sits three more weeks, it goes to our bargain barns (Sarasota and North Port). If it sits three more weeks, it goes to salvage."

She assured me that Goodwill will keep passing great bargains to its customers.

"Hopefully, our customers leave happy," she said. "Then they will donate items to begin the river again."

Then Veronica Brandon Miller, a Goodwill vice president, hit me with some numbers.

Goodwill diverted 41 million pounds from our landfills in 2015 in the Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee and De Soto counties area. Our local Goodwill employs between 50 to 60 people while Goodwill Manasota provides over 800 jobs in the four-county area.

Our local Goodwill has done $2 million of sales in the first five months of this year. In 2015, Goodwill did more than $38 million in sales. It pours back into the community. Gosh, I feel guilty.

Besides keeping local people employed, Goodwill partners with 220 organizations in the four-county area that provide service to the community. The good will goes on and on.

So I shouldn't hold a grudge. But dangnabbit, are all those major scores in the rear view mirror?

Alexa answered that question. "At our grand opening at this store, we had a painting of a cocker spaniel that we sold for $30 to $40," she said. "It retailed for $3,000. We don't mind. Yeah, we miss treasures."

OK, you got me. Let me dig through those golf clubs.