Goodwill to Cut Ribbon on Outlet Center

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Oct. 7, 2013 - PRLog -- Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida is introducing a new Goodwill shopping concept to Southwest Florida. The Goodwill Outlet Center, which will open Thursday, October 10 at 9:00 a.m., will feature purchasing by the pound and hopes to help the organization grow its recycling efforts. The Outlet Center will be located at 5100 Tice Street (Fort Myers) in the new Goodwill Opportunity Center. A ribbon cutting will take place at 8:45 a.m. that same morning.

“The Outlet Center gives our shoppers a chance to purchase textiles and wares very inexpensively and by the pound,” explains Jennifer Nelson, Goodwill’s Senior Director of Sustainability. “Most of the Outlet shoppers will be flea market sellers and vendors. We hope to become suppliers for these vendors.”

Clothing, textiles, books, CDs/DVDs, housewares and toys will be sold at .89 cents a pound, with shoes being sold for $1.29 a pound. Furniture and other large items will not be sold by the pound, and will be priced individually.

In 2012, Goodwill diverted 29 million pounds from landfills. This was achieved by selling donated items in Goodwill’s 27 Retail & Donation Centers and by directing other items through Goodwill’s salvage department. Previously, when an item did not sell in Goodwill’s stores within four weeks it was diverted to the salvage market to have another opportunity to generate revenue. The Outlet will now provide an additional step for these items to provide income for Goodwill’s programs and services.

“The Outlet Store will help keep items that don’t sell at our other stores out of the landfill,” says Goodwill’s Senior Director of Operations, Bryan Avery. “There will be a constant rotation of products on the 9,131 square foot floor; this will allow customers to stay for long periods to supply their business.”

Goodwill also recycles e-waste such as computers, printers, cell phones, fax machines and small appliances as well as commodities such as metal, plastic and cardboard as part of its sustainability efforts.

The Outlet’s opening marks Phase Two of Goodwill’s Opportunity Center. Phase One was the opening of the Goodwill L.I.F.E. Academy, a school for students with developmental disabilities, earlier in the summer. Throughout the last half of 2013, Goodwill will be relocating its administrative and operational departments to the Opportunity Center. It will also be opening an adult skills training facility on the campus.

Revenue generated from the sale of donated goods at Goodwill’s retail stores supports mission-based programs and services for people with disabilities and disadvantages.  Programs include

Job-Link centers, income-sensitive housing for senior citizens and people with disabilities, the SWFL MicroEnterprise institute, the L.I.F.E. Academy charter school, and others.  For store locations and more information about Goodwill’s mission, visit www.goodwillswfl.org.