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Nov. 29th, 2006 03:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annissamazingI just returned from a meeting with an account representative with Goodwill Industries. He gave me the "dime tour" (apparently a better tour than the one named after the nickel). I found the operation far more fascinating than I thought I would.
The area's Goodwill operation is headquartered (is that the right word?) in a building that was formerly a large Acme grocery store. The section I was shown was an enormous room filled with cubicles at which people can search for jobs. The cubicles were way neater than the kind you usually see. They were colored orangey gold and had the most unusual shape. Kind of modern and swoopy. Hard to explain. I also got to see the sorting facility where things are sorted for the stores. Apparently an item only gets two days on the shelf at the Goodwill stores. Then it is returned to the sorting facility, compressed, then shipped overseas where it is given out to anyone who wants it. He said that's why you see so many American t-shirts on children in Africa. He also showed me the auction site. He said people donate some very valuable items like musical instruments, ornamental glass, paintings, and antiques to Goodwill and these aren't sold in the stores. They're put up at Shopgoodwill.com and people bid on them. Lastly he showed me the Industrial Services area where people make different products. I saw ATM refurbishing, sound proofing materials, car bumpers, and safety vests. I had no idea Goodwill did all these things.
So I'm placing an enormous order for safety vests.
The area's Goodwill operation is headquartered (is that the right word?) in a building that was formerly a large Acme grocery store. The section I was shown was an enormous room filled with cubicles at which people can search for jobs. The cubicles were way neater than the kind you usually see. They were colored orangey gold and had the most unusual shape. Kind of modern and swoopy. Hard to explain. I also got to see the sorting facility where things are sorted for the stores. Apparently an item only gets two days on the shelf at the Goodwill stores. Then it is returned to the sorting facility, compressed, then shipped overseas where it is given out to anyone who wants it. He said that's why you see so many American t-shirts on children in Africa. He also showed me the auction site. He said people donate some very valuable items like musical instruments, ornamental glass, paintings, and antiques to Goodwill and these aren't sold in the stores. They're put up at Shopgoodwill.com and people bid on them. Lastly he showed me the Industrial Services area where people make different products. I saw ATM refurbishing, sound proofing materials, car bumpers, and safety vests. I had no idea Goodwill did all these things.
So I'm placing an enormous order for safety vests.