Goodwill Industries store opens doors in South Lake Tahoe

"We're not your grandma's Goodwill," said Joseph Mendez, President/CEO of Goodwill Industries of Sacramento Valley and Northern Nevada as the ribbon was cut in the company's newest store in South Lake Tahoe on Wednesday.

In just seven days, the crew from Goodwill put together the 8,000 square foot store and filled it with clothing, sporting equipment, housewares, books and other items. They have full trucks waiting to make trips daily to South Lake Tahoe to restock as needed as well. They will receive daily loads of new and used items (3-4 percent of the stock at the store in SLT is brand new).

Mayor Wendy David welcomed the representatives from Goodwill which included Norm Fadness, a long-time member of the company's Board of Directors who has been "to at least 25 store grand openings." The South Lake Tahoe store is the 28th in the Sacramento Valley/ Northern Nevada region.

On Wednesday, they opened the doors to the media and local dignitaries, and the store will officially open on Thursday at 8:00 a.m. for the beginning of a four-day grand opening.

Goodwill has been looking to move into the area for the last seven years Mendez said. They were all ready to take over the lease Pier 1 had at that time, but it didn't work out and they had to wait until the lease was over and then they were able to purchase the building located at 1069 Lake Tahoe Blvd.

Goodwill has done demographic research for the Lake Tahoe area so they could make sure they had the right products carried in the store, items to meet the town's needs according to Mendez.

One side of the store is dedicated at the moment to hiking books and outdoor recreation including a large assortment of wakeboards. This is a new strategy for Goodwill, one of many new things they are doing in the local store that they haven't tried before. That section will be converted to a Halloween paradise after Labor Day with new wigs, makeup, accessories and over 4,000 costumes. Then, on October 31, winter moves in and this area will be full of snow boots, winter coats and ski and boarding equipment.

When asked what customers can expect in the SLT store on Thursday, Mark Klingler, ‎Director of Operations for the company, said, "We're bringing amazing back and giving away an amazing day of shopping." Shoppers can also enter for a free television giveaway and sign up for the store's 'Season Pass' which will get people in early for special sales.

Goodwill Industries has a longtime tradition of helping non-profits said Mendez. They recently gave 15 pallets of food to the El Dorado County Food Bank and work with El Dorado Connections.

The local location's next step will be to do a situation analysis with the Department of Rehabilitation concerning job placements, Mendez said. They will be looking for a secondary location in town for job training.

"We don't want to duplicate services that are already here," Mendez said. "We are here to help them do it better."

“Goodwill’s mission expansion into South Lake Tahoe is consistent with its strategic plan to offer human services to the disadvantaged in the territory it serves,” added Mendez. “The need in the greater Tahoe area is represented by people with disabilities and disadvantages who are attempting to achieve self-sufficiency.”

Regular store hours will be Mon-Sat 10 a.m. - 7 p.m., Sun 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.