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Check here for the latest news releases about LLGI

Goodwill's Grand Opening on Wabash Avenue (Springfield)
Goodwill Works on Consolidation
Lend A Hand - Springfield Area Nonprofit Wish Lists
LLGI Move Update
Checking Their Lists
CWLP and Goodwill Partnership
Goodwill Move to K's Building (1240 WTAX audio interview)
Goodwill May Move Into Old K's Building (Springfield)
Goodwill Store Clothes Organized
Goodwill Moving to Larger Location (Jacksonville)


Goodwill's Grand Opening on Wabash Ave

From Springfield Journal-Register

By TIM LANDIS
STAFF WRITER

Published June 6, 2008

The knickknacks, used blue jeans and donated housewares traditionally associated with Goodwill Industries are still there — next to the coffee bar, bookstore-style reading area and pastry display case.

Then again, the new Goodwill retail outlet on Wabash Avenue is considered an experiment for a not-for-profit business that operates more than 2,200 stores nationwide and had 2007 revenues of $3.2 billion.

“We’re testing it here, and if it works well here, we’ll take it to other Goodwill stores,” Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries chief executive Sharon Durbin said Friday as employees prepared for today’s grand opening.

Land of Lincoln operates three stores in Springfield, and stores in Chatham, Jacksonville, Bloomington and Champaign. Stores on Wabash Avenue and Monroe Street in Springfield were closed and consolidated at the new location.

The new store also is the site for a one-year pilot project of partnerships with major retailers such as Macy’s and Bergner’s that have agreed to donate new, brand-name goods from overstocked inventory.

Durbin said that program, too, would be expanded to other Goodwill stores nationwide if it works out in Springfield.

In addition to the coffee bar and pastries, plans are to offer free, wireless Internet service, though the hookup had not been completed as of Friday. The store also has a new color scheme and lighting, and the display areas are laid out more along the lines of a traditional department store.

Assistant manager Becky Bertram and employee Ashley Brennan both completed barista training and were busy Friday slapping “Edgar’s Coffee House” labels on hundreds of paper cups. The coffee shop is named for Dr. Edgar Helms, the Boston physician who founded Goodwill in 1902.

A portrait of Helms greets visitors at the entrance.

“It’ll be doing a little bit of everything for all of us,” Bertram said, who has had coffeehouse experience. The store will have about 20 employees.

Cars drove slowly past on Friday as would-be customers tried to figure out if the store was open. A few such as T. Bray of Palmyra stopped long enough to determine the opening was not until today.

“These were just $3, and they’re leather,” Bray pronounced, pointing to her shoes, purchased at Goodwill.

She said she typically tries to make at least one stop at Goodwill when making the trip from Palmyra, about 50 miles south of Springfield.

The Goodwill store is not unique with its experiment in a new look and services. Some Goodwill stores across the country have added bistros and optical care to traditional job-training and employment programs.

A Goodwill program in Wisconsin has formed a partnership with a local credit union to provide counseling and financial assistance to clients caught up in payday loans and other debt problems.

Durbin said she would like to bring some of those programs to the central Illinois stores, but the immediate goal is to get the new location on Wabash Avenue up and running, including relocation of the Springfield administrative office.

Long-term plans also are to expand a job-training program for people with disabilities to include anyone looking for work.

Goodwill ended one tradition the last few years. There are no longer drop boxes for donated items. The new store includes an expanded drop-off and processing area.
“We’re changing. We have to. I have a lot of plans once we get these other facilities ready,” Durbin said.

Tim Landis can be reached at 788-1536.

 


  
Goodwill Works on Consolidation

From Springfield Journal-Register

By BRUCE RUSHTON
STAFF WRITER

Published Sunday, January 13, 2008

John Brubaker isn’t proud. “I come here a lot,” said the retired vice president of field training for Horace Mann. “Do I need clothes? No. I’ve kind of got a hobby.”

So do a lot of other folks, judging by the mid-afternoon Friday crowd at Goodwill on Wabash Avenue, which will close its doors at 6 p.m. today.
 
The sale started Monday with everything marked down by 25 percent. By Friday, everything was 65 percent off. The parking lot was filled, and about two dozen shoppers packed the store. Many wished to remain anonymous.

“Everybody thinks I dress so good, and I don’t want nobody to know I’m coming here,” said a woman who asked to be called Kelly. “I get compliments constantly. I just say I got it at the boutique, or Saks West. I wear things for awhile, then I drag it all back (to Goodwill).”

Goodwill hopes to open a new — and bigger — store by April 1, just down the street at the old K’s Merchandise building at 2001 Wabash Ave. Besides replacing the store at 1333 Wabash Ave., the new facility will house administrative offices and employment training programs that are now at Goodwill headquarters on North 10th Street, which is up for sale.

Brubaker and Kelly have kept close tabs.

“There’s going to be a coffee shop,” Kelly noted approvingly. “When you get older, you get a sore back.”

Sharon Durbin, executive director of Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries, said she had hoped to have the new store open by Jan. 1, when Goodwill bought the building last fall for $1.7 million. Goodwill had hoped to renovate it for about $520,000.

The renovation price tag has jumped to nearly $1 million, thanks to building codes that require upgrades of the fire alarm and sprinkler systems, Durbin said. Goodwill is hoping that donations and the proceeds from selling its building at 800 N. 10th St. will pay the added costs, Durbin said.

Durbin said Goodwill is talking with two prospective buyers. She wouldn’t name them, but said they are in the non-profit sector.

At the direction of the state Environmental Protection Agency, Goodwill removed an underground fuel tank at the 10th Street building in November at a cost of about $25,000. Testing will be required to determine whether more money will need to be spent to clean up soil, Durbin said. The building once housed a shoe factory, she said, and chemicals from tanning leather might be present.

“It sounds like they’re moving along in a satisfactory manner,” said Maggie Carson, spokeswoman for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Goodwill also plans to close its store at 2305 W. Monroe Street this spring. When all the closures are finished, Springfield will have two Goodwill stores: one on Wabash Avenue and the other on North Dirksen Parkway. Durbin said consolidation will improve Goodwill’s financial bottom line and allow the charity to better serve the disadvantaged.

“When I first walked in a year ago, it was very apparent to me we’d over-saturated our services as far as thrift stores in the Springfield area,” Durbin said. “It’s not about more and more buildings and more and more stores. It’s about being able to provide services to people.”

Brubaker, Kelly and other bargain hunters said they like the idea of bigger stores with more stuff in them.

“They need more room — they have a lot of products, but not enough room,” said a shopper who didn’t want to be named because she doesn’t want her children to get teased for wearing secondhand clothes.

The woman, whose cart brimmed with clothing that included an L.L. Bean cotton sweater that looked new, confessed that she doesn’t come to Goodwill just to buy school uniforms for her kids.

“I’ve got a habit, and this is the best way to fix my habit,” the woman said. “It’s cheaper than the mall.”

Bruce Rushton can be reached at 788-1542.

 



Lend A Hand
Springfield Area Nonprofits Share Their Holiday Wish Lists


Excerpt from the Illinois Times

Published November 30, 2007

Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries’ mission is to assist people with special needs to build their futures in partnership with our community. Goodwill requests a projector for training and presentations; a laptop for use with a projector; educational videos, CDs, DVDs, and books for use in classrooms; cooking utensils for cooking classes; nonperishable food items for cooking classes; any type of arts-and-crafts items; a sewing machine; fabric, thread, patterns, and any other items used for sewing; notebooks, pencils, markers, and educational supplies for classrooms; volunteers to help paint at various store locations; and donations to help cover costs associated with painting.



LLGI Move Update

From the State Journal Register

Note: This story is not the headline...its in middle of the article.

Published November 25, 2007

A spring move-in is now planned for GOODWILL INDUSTRIES in the former K's Merchandise building at 2001 Wabash Ave. Sharon Durbin, chief executive officer of Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries Inc., said exterior and demolition work has been completed, but remodeling will take a little longer than anticipated.

"Realistically, by the time we get bids and make a decision on who we're going to use, we'll start con-struction in January, and you're probably looking at March or April," said Durbin.

Goodwill plans to consolidate stores at 1333 Wabash Ave. and 2305 W. Monroe St. at the new location.

 



Checking Their Lists - For Recalled Toys

Excerpt From State Journal Register

Published Saturday, October 20, 2007

Kitty Boyce has two binders full of toy recalls from the past five years, including six added this week. Wes Barr, a local coordinator of Toys for Tots, has 1,500 toys to sort through by early November.With the holiday shopping season closing in, resale and consignment shops, as well as charitable organizations, are trying this fall to make sure waves of recalled toys don't find their way to shelves and donation bins.

"It's a nightmare. Most of the people who bring these toys in don't even realize it, even with all the publicity," said Boyce, owner of The Kids Closet in Rochester. The resale shop for children has been in business 16 years.

Boyce has kept a running log of recalls the past five years, but she has been especially busy this summer and fall tracking recalls from such major brands as Mattel, Disney, Fisher-Price and Gymboree.

The largest recalls were for toys made in China that contained lead-based paint.

"Lately, it's like changing the recall board every day," said Boyce, who also is vice president of the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops.

If a customer brings in a toy or other recalled items on her list, Boyce said, they are advised to return the product to the manufacturer.

Toy recalls have become a liability issue for resale businesses, she said.

"When you sell something, you assume the manufacturer's warranty," she said.

Charitable organizations such as The Salvation Army and Goodwill also have issued national alerts, prompting stores in some regions of the country to temporarily refuse toy donations.

Local Salvation Army administrator Van Werth said two retail shops in Springfield continue to accept toy donations, but managers at both the stores regularly get updated recall lists.

"Hopefully, people would not be so insensitive as to donate something on a recall list. We want them to follow the manufacturer's procedures," said Werth, who is co-administrator in Springfield with his wife, Cheryl.

Sharon Durbin, president and CEO of Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries, said recall lists also have been posted for employees there. But she said the real problem for resale shops is that recalled toys usually don't show up right away.

"It may be two or three years out when it's donated," Durbin said.

Goodwill has four stores in Springfield, and one each in Chatham, Jacksonville, Champaign and Normal.

....The remainder of this story is at the State Journal Register

Tim Landis can be reached at 788-1536 or tim.landis@sj-r.com.

 


Utility and Service Agency Join Forces To Help Customers Pay Their Bills

From WANDtv.com

Aug 22, 2007

With the hot weather outside, Springfield's City Water, Light & Power is teaming up with Goodwill Industries to help those struggling to pay their power bills. Any CWLP delinquent customer can now work for $8.00 an hour at Goodwill, with all the money going to their power bill. The program kicked off this afternoon with two participants sorting clothes in Goodwill's processing center.

Goodwill Retail Operations Vice President Deborah Clark says seven participants are already signed up and several others are waiting to be interviewed. Each participant can work a total of 25 hours and have up to $200 applied to their bill. Clark says it's a win-win situation for everyone involved. "I believe there were a few elderly ladies, a few people that have families in their homes," Clark said. "It's a group of several different people." This is the second partnership for CWLP and Goodwill. City leaders say more than 400 participated in a similar program a couple years back. Now if for some reason someone can't work, Clark says you can have a family member work in your place and the payment would still be applied to the bill.

For more information on the program contact CWLP customer service at 789-2030.

This story was also told by the City of Springfield and The State Journal-Register.




Goodwill Move Into K’s Building (Radio Interview)

Radio Interview with Sharon Durbin by 1240
WTAX Morning News Watch Host Bob Murray - offsite link here.


Interviewed on August 1st, 2007.



Goodwill May Move Into Old K’s Building
Would replace headquarters, two shops

Published Thursday, July 26, 2007

 The former K’s Merchandise building on Wabash Avenue could be the new local home of Goodwill Industries.
Sharon Durbin, CEO/president of Goodwill Industries, Land of Lincoln, confirmed Wednesday that her organization is in the process of buying the former K’s property at 2001 Wabash.  If the deal goes through, Goodwill will use the building as a headquarters. It also will house job-training facilities, a retail store and even a coffee shop staffed by people who are learning job skills. The K’s building essentially would replace Goodwill’s longtime headquarters at 800 N. 10th St. and two Goodwill resale shops on the west side of Springfield.

“The new location will give us many more opportunities to grow our organization,” Durbin said.  K’s Merchandise, based in Decatur, sold a variety of items, such as furniture, sporting goods and jewelry. The Springfield store closed for good Jan. 14.  Durbin said Goodwill is still negotiating the acquisition. She declined to disclose the price being discussed for the building, which has 40,000 square feet on the main level and a 32,000-square-foot basement.  If Goodwill succeeds in buying the property, Durbin said, the organization will transfer all of the operations at its 10th Street location — administration, job training and a resale shop.

The Goodwill stores at 1333 Wabash Ave. and 2305 W. Monroe St. will be closed and merged into the K’s building if the sale becomes a reality.  Another Goodwill retail store at 2531 N. Dirksen Parkway will be unaffected.  Goodwill rents the Wabash and Monroe store sites and is in talks to sell the 10th Street complex to The Salvation Army.

Durbin said advantages of the K’s property include a large parking lot and sufficient space to expand its work force development program.  Goodwill helps people with developmental disabilities learn job skills, but Durbin said the organization would like to help disadvantaged people find employment.  One of the projects in the works to help teach job skills at the K’s property is a retail coffeehouse.  That outlet would be called Edgar’s Place, in honor of the Rev. Edgar Helms, founder of Goodwill. The coffee shop would have Internet access, Durbin said.

If the sale goes through, Goodwill would renovate the former K’s building before opening.  “Hopefully, we would be moving in there towards the first quarter of 2008. The retail store would open before that,” Durbin said.

The Farmer’s Market, which is on the north end of the parking lot, will remain if Goodwill takes over the K’s location, she said.

John Reynolds can be reached at 788-1524 or john.reynolds@sj-r.com.

 


 



Goodwill Store Clothes Organized

From Springfield Photos Blogspot

June 22, 2007

BY NANCY LIN

Goodwill Store...now organized by clothing size!


On a recent trip to one of the local Goodwill stores I was delighted to see that they are now organizing their clothes for sale by size.

Believe it or not, this is a new thing for our local Goodwill store.

This will make it more likely that shoppers will find something to buy.

If you haven't shopped at a Goodwill store lately, now is the time to shop.




From the Jacksonville Journal-Courier:

April 26, 2007

Goodwill Moving To Larger Location

BY KATE RAMSAY

Service at the Goodwill store in Jacksonville will be delayed temporarily as employees move all of the store’s inventory, from the floor and from storage, to a new location. The delay will only last one day, Sunday, because the new and better location is two doors away. Doors will open 9 a.m. Monday at the new Jacksonville Goodwill, located at 1809 W. Morton Ave. The building was formerly occupied by Heilig Meyers Furniture. The move will add about 1,700 square feet of space.


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