It’s been many years since I stepped foot in the Gorham Goodwill store. A few weeks ago, after a rare sunny beach outing, the girls convinced (begged) me to stop in on our way home.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a clean, bright, nicely laid out store just bursting with bargains.
The store is easily navigated, and divided into sections for household, books, men, women and children. There are clothes, shoes, clothing accessories, toys, games, furniture, jewelry, CDs, books, sheets and towels, kitchenware, decorative items – just about anything you would find in a large department store.
There is a mix of used and new items, and everything is priced to sell, though it does take time and a good eye to spot the outstanding deals.
My best find of the day was a pair of Banana Republic jeans - no tags but in brand new condition – for $6.99, a lot less than the typical $69 retail price. I also bought a package of two camisoles for $5.99 (new) and an LL Bean cardigan for the same price.
Every one of us found “treasures,” with the total bill adding up to less than $50 for nine articles of high quality clothing and two books!
The best part about the shopping experience was getting up to the register and being told that something was half off the already low price, according to the colored label or “barb” (those plastic things that hold tags) that was on the item. So, a shirt marked $4.99 was $2.50 because it happened to have the barb that was that week’s sale color. Not bad!
Goodwill also offers a discount card for an annual fee of $10 that entitles the shopper to 10% off every purchase and access to special sales.
Thrift is hip these days and just makes good economic sense. Being thrifty is also easy when there is a Goodwill store offering a variety of low priced, high quality merchandise right here in town.
Goodwill
102 Main Street
Gorham
www.goodwillnne.org
