On her way home from the gym Friday, Martha Yorke of Temecula got sidetracked at a new store in town. And as she strolled through the aisles, she clutched a brass sculpture that even she had trouble describing.
"It's a wall thing," she said with a proud smile. "In my mind, I have a place for it at home; we'll just have to wait and see."
Yorke is just the kind of shopper that Goodwill of Southern California is looking for. She's willing to take a chance on thrift-store merchandise sold at affordable prices. Goodwill has attracted people like her for 94 years and now the charity can add another retail store and donation center to its growing roster of locations.
Goodwill of Temecula celebrated its grand opening Friday at 32705 Temecula Pkwy. It's the 65th thrift store and donation center in the area that includes Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.
Although the Temecula location may not be as big as some Goodwill stores, it is expected to make an impact.
"We've always liked Temecula as a location for a store and almost located here two or three years ago," said Pete Duda, vice president of retail sales for Goodwill of Southern California. "But it was a long way (from the base in Los Angeles). After we opened stores in Murrieta and Hemet, we then thought we could do well in Temecula."
The Temecula store has 15 employees and will be open daily, Duda said. The 12,000-square-foot building, which has never been used, will devote about two-thirds of its space to retail sales and the rest will be a donation center.
Items on hand Friday included, clothes, shoes, books, videos, jewelry, Christmas ornaments, televisions, dishes, easy chairs and dressers. The idea, Duda said, is to make the store self-sufficient as soon as possible.
"In Temecula, we're confident that people will be eager to donate their items that are no longer wanted," he said. "With their donations, the community should be able to support the retail side with the merchandise it needs."
Goodwill's mission is to provide job training, vocational skills, work experience, education and job placement to people with disabilities or other vocational disadvantages. According to Goodwill of Southern California's website, about 60,000 people have benefitted annually from its services.
Although the economic recession may have affected the availability of jobs, it certainly hasn't hurt Goodwill's sales.
"We've done very well in the last three years," Duda said. "We're finding a lot more people are looking for good bargains, not only on clothes and household goods, but also in things like jewelry."
The store also has items hard to find anywhere else. For instance, Retha Wickwar of Temecula, is a clock collector and Friday she latched onto a pink, battery-operated, plastic wall clock in the shape of a guitar. It cost $13 and most of the clocks she buys, Wickwar said, go to her relatives.
"I used to have a SpongeBob SquarePants and one that played 'Reveille,'" she said. "When I come to thrift stores, I look for clocks and books."
On the donation side of the store, the first-day pace wasn't quite as brisk, but Goodwill had already taken in items such as clothes and furniture.
"We don't take carseats, washers, dryers and refrigerators, but we will take computers," said store employee Crystal Gungon. "So far, it's been fairly busy, with lots of things to do."
Call staff writer Jim Rothgeb at 951-676-4315, ext. 2621.
