CINCINNATI — A growing part of Goodwill’s business is coming from their outlet stores. Currently, the nonprofit thrift store chain has seven outlets across Ohio: from Akron to Zanesville, along with Canton, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and Sandusky. 

“At Goodwill, they take the donations very seriously,” said Michael Flannery, Goodwill’s public information officer. “They want to make sure it’s used for what we say. So this is another chance for us to sell the items that people have given to us to sell.”

Most items are sold by weight at $1.79 a pound. Customers can wheel a shopping cart onto a giant scale that determines the weight and how much they owe.

Instead of racks of clothing and shelves of merchandise, everything is thrown in large blue bins that customers sift through. Workers change out the items every two hours, putting what doesn’t sell into a large box for recycling and then refilling the blue bins with new last-chance merchandise.

“You never know what you’re going to find at Goodwill because you never know what people are going to donate,” Flannery said. “We’ve had Rookwood Pottery come in that’s worth $1,000 for a vase. Here, it would sell for $1.79.”

Flannery said they’ve also seen original Tiffany lamps and expensive jewelry come through the outlet.

“I found a brand new sewing machine for two dollars,” said Gerry Stephens, a 91-year-old regular who hunts for bargains at the outlet three or four days a week.

“I’ve been coming here since they first opened. I love it, it’s my hobby,” she said.

The staff enjoy the whole process and customers, too.

“I love being here because it gives me an opportunity to meet all the people that actually donate and then they come back and shop for the same items,” said Derrick Slocum, an Army veteran who works as a cashier. “It’s really wonderful because this is a process that’s never-ending.”