December, 2017 | Goodwill Industries Suncoast

New Goodwill Store in St. Petersburg Opens December 29

Grand Opening celebration includes great prizes for shoppers!

Goodwill Industries-Suncoast, Inc. announces the opening of a new superstore in Pinellas County. The newest Goodwill retail location is at 2550 34^th St. N. in St. Petersburg.

The grand opening celebration will take place Friday, December 29. Doors open at 7 a.m., but shoppers in line before that time can enter a drawing for great prizes like new Amazon Fire TV sticks and Echo Dots, along with Apple iPads! The drawing for these prizes will take place before the doors open, so shoppers are encouraged to get there early!

The grand opening festivities will continue through Sunday, as shoppers can register all weekend long to win a new 55-inch Full HD television! The winner of that drawing will be announced after store closing on Sunday and promptly notified.

Goodwill-Suncoast’s freestanding St. Petersburg store is also the new home of our innovative Job Connection Center, a community based place where people can comfortably job search in a supportive environment, entirely free of charge. The Center offers career planning and exploration and assists job seekers to identify paths to their careers of interest. It also offers reading, math and financial literacy options as well as employability workshops such as resume development, computer classes and interview skills for those who need assistance, or who need to be connected to other agencies that can best serve them.

Goodwill’s Job Connection Center was located in the Goodwill store at 3365 Central Ave in St. Petersburg, but is relocating as that store location will be closing in 2018.

Like Goodwill’s other clean, well-organized stores, the newest Goodwill is sure to appeal to a wide cross-section of value-conscious shoppers. The 31,000-square-foot store will be stocked with donated clothing, furniture and household items, as well as a wide variety of brand-new products.

Besides being a bargain-hunter’s paradise, the store will offer a convenient drive-through donation lane. This will give area residents a place to easily drop off items they no longer need, contributing to a greener community while supporting Goodwill-Suncoast’s services to thousands of people in West Central Florida.

Successful stores are critical to Goodwill’s mission, as retail revenue helps support the agency’s many human services.

Goodwill Industries-Suncoast is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to help people achieve their full potential through the dignity and power of work. The organization’s successful donated goods retail operation helps support its human services in 10 counties in West Central Florida including employment services, training and job placement for people with disabilities, a children’s literacy program, affordable apartment communities for seniors and people with disabilities, and community corrections programs. For more information, visit www.goodwill-suncoast.org.

Baby, let’s cruise!

I’m going on a cruise. I thought I’d go to Goodwill and find all sorts of fun tropical stuff. I tried. Instead I found stuff I’ll use for work AND some fun holiday dresses! No complaints here.

Are you a size 4? I’m not and have no plans to be, but this dress made me wish I was! If you are, you should rush down to the Central location and see if you can find this Vince Camuto dress for $12.98. It still has all the tags on it… including the $165 manufacturer’s tag! Someone, PLEASE?! This is a fashion emergency. This dress needs to be worn!

It’s so not cruisewear, but I’ve already worn this Alfani dress to work this week. It was a boutique item for $9.98, but I couldn’t leave it there with the flared skirt masquerading as pleats. I paired it with some plain black heels (you get one guess where they came from) and a casual blazer and it was the perfect look for work!

My mom vetoed this little boutique dress because it looks too much like another dress I own! She was right, and when you thrift as much as I do, you need to make wise choices. I always have a laundry basket in my closet of items ready to be returned to the Goodwill Circle of Life. Sometimes you just don’t wear something like you thought you would. Sometimes the color is great, but doesn’t match anything else you have. Sometimes you just found something you liked better and it turns out you wear that more! Regardless, remember to always give back–in more ways than one!

P.S. — everyone text-shops with their mom, right?

For reference, here is the dress that looked too similar. I like what I like!

I think this dress is coming with me for cruise formal night. Hooray! That was the goal, after all. It’s a London Times dress and if it was worn, it was very lightly. The fabric feels stiff and new. I “splurged” and spent $9.98 on this boutique item too, but I foresee many wears in its future, and I already know which dress it’ll replace in my closet. One with a similar cut, but a funky length that I’m never 100% pleased with. Goodwill Circle of Life!

I’ll save some of my other goodies (including the dress with a stain I knowingly took a HUGE chance on) for another post, but I will share these cruise-perfect Aldo wedges before I go! $6.96 and very lightly used, only on carpet. Maybe even just as a display model. Goodwill, never stop being you!

Until next time, Bon Voyage, thrifters!