Category: Bargains

Lookin’ for a Come Up at a Thrift Shop? Shop at Goodwill

March 19, 2013

Topping the Charts, Popping Some Tags with a 20-Dollar Bill

Most of you have probably heard the song “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, which mentions Goodwill. It was shot in part at a Seattle Goodwill Outlet. We think it’s cool that something we have known about for a long time – thrift shopping is fun and saves you cash – is mainstream.

We appreciate Macklemore and Ryan Lewis telling the world that thrifting is cool. Who wants to pay $50 for a T-shirt? Our customers are proud to find low-priced items that suit their style and they show off their new outfits, shoes and purses to their friends on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. They are proud #ThriftShop and #Goodwill enthusiasts. They decorate their home with items found at Goodwill.

Be Proud of Your Thrift Shop Purchase

: Styling like Macklemore outside a Goodwill thrift shop.

If you only have $20 in your pocket, and need an outfit (or two), that $20 goes much further at Goodwill than any other retail store. AND, like Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, you will have fun stuntin’ in them.

Think like Macklemore and go to Goodwill. Fill your closet with come ups for less. Mother’s or grandpa’s clothes could fit your style perfectly. Be it geek chic, retro, or en vogue, going to a thrift shop could make your day.

Thrift Shop — At Goodwill, the hat, the jacket, the shirt, for $20.

Through your generous donations and your purchases, Goodwill funds job training programs and helps people with disabilities or other employment challenges live a full and productive life. Your thrift shop purchases and donations create jobs and opportunities.

Shop Goodwill Offers Online Auctions

February 27, 2013

This East African bottle topper is hand carved out of a rare wood and is about 50 years old. — This East African bottle topper is hand carved out of a rare wood and is 55 years old.

Goodwill stores throughout the 22-county region comprising Goodwill Keystone Area receive all sorts of interesting donations every day. After processing and pricing, donations go directly into stores for sale to customers or to shopgoodwill.com. The profits from these sales are used to help people with disabilities and other challenges to employment through job training and other activities.

More than 80 Goodwills across the nation have online stores that auction merchandise on shopgoodwill.com, including five in Pennsylvania. You can search the site by item, category or seller. Goodwill Keystone Area (GKA) has two online stores. (Click here to view merchandise currently up for auction at the Berwyn and Reading online stores.) Each online store offers brand name clothing, shoes, antiques and collectibles.

To browse merchandise on shopgoodwill.com, you can search specifically for items available online at GKA’s two stores, click the magnifying glass and browse by seller. one your search specifically for items for sale by the Berwyn or Reading online stores.

Proceeds from these online auctions are maximized, adding additional funds to Goodwill’s mission to support persons with disabilities and other barriers to independence in achieving their fullest potential as workers and as members of the broader community.

Spring Training Means Tee-Shirt Weather is Not Far Away

February 20, 2013

As we endure another February chill, let’s think of warmer days when we hear the snap of a ball in a mitt or the crack of a well-hit baseball.

Phillies Shirts — Phillies Fan Club and Shane Victorino shirts and many other team shirts can be found at Goodwill.

Spring is only a month away. Besides birds, a good early sign of spring is pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training camps this week in Florida and Arizona.

This means it’s time to start looking for your favorite team’s attire at Goodwill. Every time I shop at a Goodwill store, I like to browse through the different tee shirt colors looking for my teams and those of my family and friends. They make good “I was thinking of you.” gifts. They can be sleepwear or something to wear to a ball game. What we wear can be the beginning of a conversation with a neighbor while out gardening.

I like how our Goodwill stores are set up – by type of clothes and by color. It makes it easy to search for my favorite team’s colors, and you can’t beat the prices. Often, with my Shop & Save card I get additional discounts on top of the already low cost. Then all I have to do is find the right size.

Good hunting. Find your favorite things at Goodwill.

Stock up on Super Bowl Party Supplies at Goodwill

February 1, 2013

I went looking for a few extra serving bowls for a Super Bowl party I am planning, but was discouraged at the exorbitant prices at some high-end and supposedly bargain-price stores. While I was shopping I suddenly thought ‘Goodwill to the rescue.’

I knew the prices would be more than affordable and that I would be able to find something different. I chose a couple neat serving bowls.

Silver-plated candy dish. — Great pretzel bowl and drink glasses for the Super Bowl.

: Go fancy or plain with extra serving bowls for your party.

I found extra glasses in several Goodwill stores that I could use for drinks so my guests would not misplace their drinks. I also found plenty of decorations in the purple and black shelves of my local Goodwill store – Ravens colors, and scarlet red and orange – San Francisco colors. This added some color to my party platters.

With the money you save on party decorations at Goodwill, buy some shrimp or wings for your guests.

Need a Party Dress for Less? Think Goodwill.

December 13, 2012

Let’s face it, sometimes, last minute invitations come up. Your schedule clears and you are able to attend a holiday party you had not anticipated going to. Sometimes your daughter comes to you and says she needs an outfit for the school dance tonight and has nothing to wear.

027 — These dresses were available during a recent visit to a Goodwill in Lemoyne, PA.

You’ve done all of your holiday shopping already and came in at or near budget. You’ve fought through the Black Friday crowds and braved the parking lots packed with Christmas shoppers at the mall. Now you want to get yourself or a family member a last-minute special outfit without paying retail. What do you do? This is the perfect time to think Goodwill.Our stores specialize in women’s fashions.You don’t have to pay $50 or more. Feel free to brag a little. ‘I paid $8 for this dress from Jones of New York at Goodwill.’ AND I used my Shop-N-Save card to save on this Liz Claiborne purse. Next time, bring along an envious friend to shop Goodwill with you.

020 — Liz Claiborne, left and Tommy Hilfiger, right. Purses to accessorize any outfit and they won’t empty your wallet.

While you’re there, you may want to look for a housewarming gift for the party host. A serving dish. A decoration. A game. You’ll leave knowing that you can still afford a bottle of wine for the hostess. Look for it and find it. At Goodwill.

038-crop — Silver-plated candy dish. Perfect holiday impulse buy.

Ugly Christmas Sweaters. It’s Hip to be Square.

December 8, 2012

I can’t help but smile when I see someone at the mall, at a Christmas party or out and about boldly wearing a loud Christmas sweater, embroidered sweatshirt or Santa Claus hat. Normally this comes with slight disregard for traditional fashion sense. It’s festive, it’s fun, it’s something you talk and joke about.

Ugly Christmas sweaters are colorful. They’re busy. They’re garish.

They’re the opposite of cool, yet they are cool at the same time. They are conversation pieces. Who can find the most ornate, the most creative, the most daring? It’s Christmas and it’s time to celebrate. “Fashion can be put on hold when I wear my ugly Christmas sweater,” seems to be the prevailing mood. That’s why ugly Christmas sweaters remain a popular annual trend.

Where do we find our new favorite? To find an ugly Christmas sweater that suits your particular personality and budget takes some doing. If you’ve shopped online for them, they can also carry hefty price tag. Instead of shelling out $35 or $50 for an ugly Christmas sweater, shopping at your local Goodwill can save you plenty. In fact, you can afford to buy several different sweaters at thrift store prices for much less than you would pay for one at retail or online with shipping.

You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the wide selection, quality and variety of sweaters and sweatshirts that Goodwill has. Keep in mind, each Goodwill store has unique ugly Christman sweaters in stock.

Challenge your friends and relatives. Plan an ugly Christmas sweater party. Ask guests to wear an outlandish sweater or sweatshirt to your next gathering.

Shop Goodwill. You’ll be happy you did.

Christmas Decorations at Goodwill

December 5, 2012

For many years, it was a tradition in my family to add one or two special ornaments to the Christmas tree each year. It didn’t have to be something store bought. It was often something one of the children made. As this tradition continued, we had more ornaments than we had space on the tree, so inevitably, some would stay box ed and unused, some were given to friends and family, and some were donated to Goodwill.

Many families must donate unused ornaments because every Goodwill store I have been in recent weeks contains a bounty of high-quality – often vintage and collectible – Christmas decorations that are no longer sold in other stores.

I recently found a bunch of NFL, NHL, NBA and NCAA team logo Christmas ornaments, which I know once went for $6, $8 or even $10 a piece in other stores. Now, you can’t find them at all. Except at Goodwill, where they were just 97 cents.

Penn State and Minnesota Team Bulbs — On a recent visit to a Goodwill store, I found a Penn State ornament, three Minnesota pro sports team bulbs and many other Christmas decorations.

You really can’t beat these prices.

Cyber Monday at Shopgoodwill.com

November 26, 2012

Have some fun cyber shopping today at shopgoodwill.com. We have jewelry, designer clothes, boots and handbags. Our online Goodwill store based in Reading has a piccolo metronome, right, used for keeping time

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=11909372

or a zither, below (Everyone has an uncle who plays – or should play – the zither.). These and many much more unusual gifts are up for auction if you know an aspiring musician.

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=11911404

Find accessories from scarves to earrings to necklaces to match them…all at Goodwill – you never know what you’re going to find when you shopgoodwill.com.

When in Doubt: Zombie Out

October 26, 2012

Zombies are in right now, esp. with the return or the AMC series Walking Dead and numerous zombie genre movies still popular, but especially as a popular costume choice for Halloween parties.

Goodwill Keystone Area’s stores have inexpensive, quality clothing and decorations for Halloween that can help bring out the zombie in you.

Goodwill merchandise provides good value for the quality of the clothing, but you can feel better about distressing a pair of our inexpensive jeans rather than your favorite going-out pair. A few rips and frays, some dirt, zombie goo (ketchup, mustard, honey?) and of course a mask or face paint will round out the look.

Don’t forget to accessorize your zombie costumes with such things as scarves, belts and shoes, all of which Goodwill stores have in ample supply. Adding a dead bouquet of flowers for the beautiful zombie bride or a dead corsage for the zombie groom could complete the look.

Zombie Bride and Groom — This window display in the Goodwill store at 121 Rohrerstown Road in Lancaster features a wedding gown and long black cape.

Imagine what an entrance you could make at a party if you arrived with your date and an entourage or zombified friends, all bursting into the party at once! Just don’t make the hostess drop the macaroni and cheese she’s serving.

The only limitation is your imagination. By shopping at Goodwill, you’ll be able to afford your costume and have some money left over to bring something for the party hosts.

Halloween Costumes are No Problem at Goodwill

October 23, 2012

Choosing a Halloween costume can be difficult, especially if a last-minute invitation pops up for you or your trick or treater. Sometimes it just takes a little shopping to be inspired. Goodwill makes it easy.

Evil Paparazzi — One of the many costume ideas at Goodwill.

If you don’t want to pay retail prices for a costume you’ll wear just once, look to a Goodwill store for some inexpensive costume ideas this week. Bring your children after school or come browse over the lunch hour.

Prepackaged and Create Your Own Costumes

Some of our Goodwill stores carry a limited number of pre-packaged costumes. The week before Halloween, the Goodwill Store at 627 N. Cameron St., Harrisburg, carried prepackaged costumes including an evil paparazzi and a hunchback outfit.

include an evil paparazzi and a hunchback outfit.

Or you can create your own costume. Whether you are looking for a missing piece to your costume puzzle or an entire outfit, your neighborhood Goodwill store just might have it, so come in and browse and be inspired.

These adorable pink shoes (size 1 ½) from the well-stocked shoe department would complete your young lady’s princess outfit.

Donate

When planning to shop, consider bringing in lightly used clothes you no longer wear or costumes from previous years. Those Halloween costumes can still be put on the rack for purchase. Donors will of course receive a receipt for a tax write off for their donation.