FULFILLING DREAMS - Tacoma Goodwill

North Tacoma Christmas Shoppe.
Business Services
Fund Dreams
Retail Sales
When people think about Goodwill they think about shopping and
donating. The number of people who did just that rose this year to
an unprecedented 3.4 million shoppers and 78 million pounds of
donated goods. What people don’t often think about, however, is
what their shopping and donating means to others.
Donations of gently used clothing, books, shoes, household
and electronic goods provide value price items for others to enjoy
and the revenue to support job training and placement services.
Retail operations revenue is the largest contributing factor to making
Goodwill a unique, self-sustaining non-profit organization.
To further serve communities in Goodwill’s 15-county service area
and to increase mission funding, new stores opened in Shelton and
Yelm. In addition, the Gig Harbor store re-located to the East side
of Highway 16 in June to a split-level space featuring updated Book
and Fashion Departments.
Holiday sales were given even greater emphasis in 2011. For
Halloween, Boo-TEEK’s were featured in each of the stores. The
Boo-TEEK’s offered affordable costumes and accessories. Specially
trained, and often times costumed staff, provided personalized help.
In late 2010, two Christmas Shoppes opened serving the greater
Pierce County community with one-stop shopping for holiday
décor, trees, dishware, ornaments and gifts. The first-in-the-nation
Shoppes experienced such a popular debut that three more stores
were added in 2011, in Kent, Puyallup and Lacey. More than 2
million pounds of Christmas items were collected and distributed to
the Shoppes.
Seventy-five percent of people employed in the Goodwill retail
business are disabled or disadvantaged and need help going to
work.
Online Sales
Increased growth and job training opportunities continued in the
E-Sales Department. Sales reached $3.6 million; consistently
placing amongst the top three Goodwill’s nationwide.
An online sales customer service training opportunity provided
participant Jenn Ward, the chance to learn new skills and earn full
time status. “Before I came to Goodwill, I couldn’t
even keep a roof over my head due to my
disability,” said Ward. “Now I’ve been able to do
just that and I’m very proud of myself. I’ve come
a long way.” Ward was the 2011 Achiever of the
Year and was honored at the Tacoma Ready to
Work event in May.
Jenn Ward