There's something to be said for Goodwill when it becomes such a frustrating shopping experience that it convinces this notorious tightwad to actually go out shopping for "new" rather than have to deal with the poorly organized, chaotic madness that is the typical Goodwill shopping experience.
Listen, I love the purpose behind Goodwill. I do. I'm a disabled working adult myself and I wholeheartedly embrace any kind of effort to improve upon the 70% unemployment rate among disabled adults.
Goodwill as a trainer of disabled adults for the workforce? It's refreshing to see a non-profit focus on putting disabled adults in living wage jobs rather than those ridiculous $.33 an hour sweatshops. Okay, they're not actually sweatshops - but they're condescending and victimizing.
End of rant.
Yesterday was my 3rd visit to this recently relocated Fishers Station location of Goodwill that went in in a new strip center right next to what will eventually be a SuperKroger (or whatever they call them).
As has been noted here, there are definite pluses with this Goodwill - they're incorporating what seems to be a Goodwill-wide design change involving multiple checkout registers along a row with a definite flow to it. This is a huge change and, quite frankly, an overdue one. I also agree with observations that this location is better organized, infinitely cleaner, and has better carts that actually roll more easily.
However, and you knew there'd be a however given my rating, my most recent visit convinced me that this location has some definite operational issues that definitely need to be worked out if it wishes to be a shining star in the Goodwill retail world.
Mind you, I understand that it is pretty much universally accepted that the monthly 50% off Saturday event takes the usual Goodwill chaos and amps it up to Wal-Mart shopping on Black Friday levels of frustration. I don't care which Goodwill you go to unless you're in a more rural setting - the store will be more full, the lines will be longer, the wait will require patience, and the store displays will be in disarray. I mean, I pretty much live like Pigpen and even I find it kind of gross.
On this visit, which was on Saturday, Feb. 3rd, the crowd in this particular Goodwill was particularly busy. It felt as if everyone had spread the word that this was the Goodwill to go to and, thus, everyone did. The floor plan in Goodwill has always been a touch tight, but in times like these it was particularly difficult being in a wheelchair and trying to make one's way through the aisles without hitting/getting hit.
Again, I get it. It's a sale day at a thrift store. But, when your primary mission as an organization is serving the disabled I have higher expectations for how the disabled are treated and able to access your services. This was unreasonably difficult.
Additionally, let's talk about the flow of that line - it snaked around the actual created line, went all the way back to the housewares, turned left and wrapped around the end row of housewares, snaked all the way back to the back of the store, and then went down the back row of the store. SERIOUSLY.
Maybe it's time to hire more cashiers? Maybe it's time to call up one or two people working lazily stacking shelves to help people out or at least make some effort at being friendly?
As I only had four items myself and could never find a decent place to both get through the aisle AND get in line, I finally gave up in frustration and left the store and headed over to buy something new.
This goes to my final observation - when, oh when, is someone at Goodwill going to learn how to size items? I have one manager, in particular, who likes to tease me about my arrivals at his store - I really want to say "Well, if you'd size more than 1/3 of your items correctly I wouldn't have to keep coming back." I doubt I've ever had an experience where every item I came home with was sized correctly. While I'm willing to say that clothing gets out of place, especially on sale days, when tags are actually incorrect then people who are in training for the workforce are ultimately being trained poorly.
This store does have remarkable potential. It's a newer, cleaner and better organized location. The cash register layout is a vast improvement. However, crowd management matters and the basics of correctly labeling clothing are important issues to address.
Will I be back? Most likely, but I may have to take a valium first. read more