WASHINGTON — Goodwill of Greater Washington is opening bigger, brighter and better-stocked stores throughout the D.C. region, and it is paying off, according to the charitable organization.
Goodwill reports a dramatic increase in retail sales due to 10 new locations, improved quality of donations and revitalized branding.
The charity has been working with real estate advisory firm Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Retail on its new strategic operations plan.
The recipe is simple: Donors won’t travel far, but shoppers will.
“Goodwill shoppers are very informed and very loyal, and they understand that a store and a donation center in particular that is located in a high-end ZIP code is much more likely to generate high-quality goods,” Goodwill of Greater Washington’s marketing chief Brendan Hurley told WTOP.
And the better the quality of the donations it receives, the more Goodwill can sell them for and the more money the charitable organization can raise for its programming.
The new, larger stores can also accommodate a higher volume of donations and give Goodwill more space to process merchandise.
Goodwill has more than doubled the number of its Washington area retail stores since 2009.
Two more locations will open this year. An 18,000-square-foot store at Prince William Gateway in Manassas is set to open this summer and a 17,700-square-foot anchor store at Sully Station in Centerville is expected to open this fall.
Goodwill deploys the additional revenue its stores generate to pay for new services.
Last fall, it opened the Goodwill Excel Center at 1776 G Street, NW, which provides free education and training to adult D.C. residents who don’t have a high school diploma. It is the first adult, public charter school in the District to award a high school diploma rather than a GED.
More than 60,000 adult D.C. residents lack a high school diploma.
Goodwill said that when it opened the school in August, it had 325 seats for the first term and it receive more than 2,000 applications.
“Our business is changing, so we’re actively pursuing avenues like the Goodwill Excel Center to enhance the services we offer our community,” Hurley said. “Selecting and securing the right locations are critical to our success.”
These new Goodwill of Greater Washington stores have already opened with the help of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank:
- Fairfax Adler — 9960 Main Street, Fairfax, Va.
- Annandale Road — 2936 Annandale Rd., Falls Church, Va.
- Herndon Village Center at Dulles — 2421 Centreville Rd., Herndon, Va.
- Rockville — 4816 Boiling Brook Pkwy., Rockville, Md.
- Waldorf — 2495 Crain Hwy., Waldorf, Md.
- Annandale Plaza — 7031 Columbia Pike, Annandale, Va.
- Ashdale Plaza — 2950 Dale Blvd., Dale City, Va.
- Kings Crossing — 6220 Richmond Hwy., Alexandria, Va.
- The Shoppes at Bowie Town Center — 3871 Evergreen Pky, Bowie, Md.
- Clinton — 9001 Woody Terrace, Clinton, Md.
