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.

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.

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.