Filed under: General | Tags: Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October, pink, shopping tips
Have you got your pink on? In case you haven’t heard, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and pink is the official color to sport for anyone wanting to show their support. Recently I learned that Lora Songster, morning show host on 99.5 WMAG, is such an avid supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness Month that she wears something pink each day in October. After hearing about Lora’s quest to dress in pink, I started thinking about how Goodwill could support this cause.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that purchasing that much pink can be tricky, especially since pink is not the easiest color to find going into the fall season. Plus, picking up something pink to wear each day could potentially put a strain on your budget. Then it hit me. Goodwill is a perfect place to get your pink on! In fact, we make it easy for you to get in the pink without going in the red.
Did you know that our Goodwill stores are color coordinated? You can walk right into any of our stores and easily find the pink section (or whatever other color you are looking for). What’s even better is that we separate our clothes into different sections like sweaters, short sleeve shirts and long sleeve shirts. And best of all, most of the items in our store cost less than $10.
Throughout the month of October, I will be sharing pink finds from Goodwill that are stylish and affordable. Lora will also stop by to show off her fabulous Goodwill finds throughout the month. I was impressed to find out that she kicked off her season of pink by wearing this Jones New York blazer to the Komen Survivor Celebration last Thursday. We encourage you to get pinked out with Goodwill and don’t forget to send us a picture!
A few weeks ago, I was visiting the Goodwill store in Reidsville. I was taking pictures of various items for What is it? Wednesday when a shopper stopped to ask what I was doing. I explained to him the concept behind What is it? Wednesday and encouraged him to check out our blog.
Almost immediately, he shared his “cool Goodwill find” for the day with me and even agreed to let me photograph him for the blog. He found an original promotional record of Italian Guitars. The record was in pristine condition and the cover was hand-made, complete with colored pencil artwork. He assured me that this record had probably traveled a few miles since he couldn’t think of a radio station in this area that would have a promotional record like this on hand.
After chatting about the promotional record, he also told me about some other great items he had come across in the past. Then a passing shopper chimed in to share her “cool find” story. And then another one told us her story. It was then that I realized what is so special about Goodwill. Aside from finding good deals and helping support our mission, people enjoy shopping Goodwill for the thrill of the hunt. On any given day you never know what you’ll come across.
If you have a “cool find” story that you’d like to share, leave us a comment. We’d be excited to feature you in an upcoming blog entry. And if you don’t have a story to share yet, find the nearest Goodwill store and get to shopping. Your cool find is out there just waiting to be discovered.
Filed under: Retail and Donations | Tags: gifts, shopping tips, Stores, thrifty finds, Valentine's Day
I should start this post off by saying that I will spend Valentine’s Day with my boyfriend for the first time this year. That is to say that, in the last five years, I have not given him a single Valentine. However, I do plenty of nice things for him throughout the year, so I think I’m qualified to give a little bit of Valentine’s advice.
The key to making a holiday like this special is putting a lot of thought and time (not necessarily money) into your gift. You can get a great start at Goodwill. Nothing spells romance like flowers and candles. If you get your vase at Goodwill, you’ll have plenty of money leftover to pick up a bouquet at the farmer’s market (get some food while you’re there for a home-cooked, romantic dinner). Goodwill also has lots of votive candle holders to choose from and, with the money you save, you can get some really fancy fragrant candles.
Another way to turn up the romance is to give a gift that symbolizes your feelings for each other. For example, if you’re ready to take your relationship to the next level, you could get your sweetheart this toothbrush holder with a new toothbrush in it for him (or her) to keep at your place.
If you’re spending Valentine’s Day with your girlfriends, you can pick up some great chick flicks at Goodwill. These VHS tapes were all only a dollar each — that’s much less than a rental and you’ll want to watch these classics over and over.
Whether you’re looking for a creative gift, holiday decorations, an outfit for a date, or a romantic movie or book to snuggle up with, you can find what you need at Goodwill!
Who knew that shopping could be stressful? When you’re shopping for 50 models for the Goodwill Fashion Show, it certainly can be. Don’t get me wrong — it wasn’t hard to fill my cart with things that I would love to wear. The challenge was making sure I had something in the cart for everyone. The Fashion Show should be a representation of the wide variety of styles you can find at Goodwill, not just mine.
How do you tackle the task of dressing 50 people uniquely? Employ some of the same strategies that you use when you’re shopping for yourself. Only shop when you’re well rested, well fed, and have plenty of time. Start at one end of the store and work methodically to the other end. Look at every shirt/pants/dress on the rack because you never know what treasure might be hiding in there.
However, when you’re shopping for 50 people, you’ll have to do some things differently. You have to decide what part of the outfit will be the easiest to fit and match and start there (for women it’s usually the top and for men it’s usually the pants). Make sure you have at least one of those “staples” for each model, checking sizes as you go. Then go back and pick up at least double the amount of coordinates that you’ll need (bottoms for women and tops for men). That way, when you’re putting the outfits together, you’ll have a little leeway with sizes and styles.
After several shopping trips, we finally have a good balance of men’s and women’s clothing, casual and formal wear, business and evening wear. Now all we have to do is make sure the clothes fit the models. That’s the easy part, right?
Filed under: Retail and Donations | Tags: shopping tips, Stores, thrifty finds
When I moved to Greensboro from Chicago, I woke up very confused one January morning. The temperature was just above freezing, a comfortable winter day by Midwestern standards, but the roads were covered in salt, the grocery store parking lots were packed, and there was a battery shortage at the corner store. What’s going on? I wondered. Three years later, I’m in line with everyone else, stocking up on groceries, wine, DVDs, and cozy blankets.
With a winter storm on its way, you’ll want to stock up on all sorts of things and what better place to do it than Goodwill? Whether you’re going to be hitting the sledding hills with your kids or snuggling up by the fire with your sweetheart, you can save money at Goodwill on all your essential supplies.
Look for these Goodwill items to help get you through the wintry weekend:
- Hats, scarves, gloves, and boots to keep you warm and dry
- Mugs for your hot chocolate
- Movies and books to entertain you
- Pots and pans to simmer your soup
- Games for family fun
- Couch or arm chair to snuggle up on
Let us know about your best finds and how it helped you survive the storm!
Filed under: Retail and Donations | Tags: shopping tips, Stores, thrifty finds
The Eugene Street Goodwill Store may look the same from the outside, but you’ll notice a difference as soon as you walk through the door. The store was closed for four weeks for remodeling and, when it reopened on October 14, shoppers couldn’t wait to get through the door to see the new store. What did they see? Let me take you on a virtual tour.
Welcome to Goodwill! Come on in! When you walk in the front door, you find yourself standing in the Boutique. As you browse the round racks, you see that the Boutique is fully stocked with brand new clothing, which makes it easy to find the color and size you’re looking for. Each item is individually priced with an easy to read tag.
Turn to your right and you see the entrance to Computer Junction. As you walk through the door, you see flat screen monitors, towers, cables, keyboards and our friendly computer technicians. Go ahead and ask them you’re toughest question — they’re geeky enough to know the answer and cool enough to explain it to you.
Okay, tear yourself away from the computers and head back into the store. As you walk toward the back, you see the same color-coded racks that you see in every Goodwill. But don’t dive in yet, I still have one more thing to show you!
Walk all the way to the back and take a right. As you walk into the furniture section, it seems very, very different. You can’t quite put your finger on it. New shelves? Larger area? Green accent wall? That’s it! Where there used to be a fence separating the store from the warehouse, there is now an honest to goodness wall. It’s been a whirlwind of a tour — go ahead and take a seat on that couch over there.
To see more of the newly remodeled Goodwill store, visit our Flickr page or come on down to 1235 South Eugene Street in Greensboro.
Filed under: General | Tags: Costumes, Halloween, shopping tips, thrifty finds
I trick-or-treated every Halloween, just like all the other kids. Unlike all the other kids, I never had a store-bought costume. I never wanted to be Rainbow Bright or a Care Bear or Cinderella — I thought those one-piece polyester costumes were dumb. They didn’t look at all like the real thing. But as the youngest of six kids, I could be anything my sisters had already been — cheerleader, Indian, fairy princess, scarecrow. When I got to college and got to make my own costume, I was pumped.
I had recently ruined a load of laundry by washing it with crayons (apparently I had stuffed some of the kids’ crayons into my pocket from my hostess job at Applebee’s), so I ironed some more crayon shavings onto a pair of khakis and a t-shirt. I added candy letters to the shirt, stuck candles on a plate for a hat, and voila! I was a birthday cake. This was my first costume creation and my first college party. It was a big deal. Of course, five minutes after I walked into the party, one person tried to eat the candy off my shirt while someone else lit the candles on my hat. It was a disaster.
So it might not surprise you that I took a seven-year hiatus from Halloween. Last year I came back in full force with my first couple costume. My boyfriend and I were going to a neighborhood party, so he dressed as our crazy neighbor and I dressed as our apartment building. Who knows how we came up with that idea, but the resemblance was striking. (You’ll have to trust me on the resemblance of the crazy neighbor.) The denim jacket and the yellow t-shirt came from Goodwill.
I can’t tell you what we’re going to be this year (it’s even more genius than last year!), but I can tell you that we’ll get all the elements from Goodwill. If you’re just going to ruin a t-shirt by painting it, cutting it, or sewing a bunch of stuff to it, why buy new?
This week, you can get an even better deal than usual. The Eugene Street Goodwill Store is having a half price sale September 9–11 and a super sale on September 12. These shopping tips will help you get a good deal at the sale or any other day.
- Go to a Goodwill Store. I know it seems obvious, but that’s the first step. You can’t get a good deal if you don’t look for one. You can find a Goodwill Store near you on our website.
- Strategize. Do you have 30 minutes or 2 hours to shop? You can either do a quick sweep and pick up any items that jump out at you or you can methodically sort through each rack.
- If you find something you like, buy it (I’m not just saying that because I work at Goodwill). It’s one of a kind and it won’t be there when you come back.
- Get creative. You can completely change the look of any item with a few minor alterations. Ask yourself, What if this coat had different buttons? or What would this dresser look like with new hardware?
- If you don’t find what you’re looking for, come back (again, I’m not just saying that because I work here). We get new items every day — we might have what you’re looking for tomorrow.
With all that advice, you should do great this weekend! Let me know what you find!
Goodwill Industries of Central North Carolina Blog 