I would have asked her why they were selling the skirts instead of giving them to people who needed them.

that one of the "employees" wanted it. I have stopped donating to anything except one non-profit place here that supports a church. If someone is really in need they are given the item, not charged for it. I donated some furniture to a mission store in a nearby town, & was told later by an employee I knew that it never made it out of the back room - the manager had it set aside for herself. I did complain about that to the b.o.d. but it did no good. I've been told that most thrift stores are like that - first pic (& the best items go to those who work there), usually at no cost.[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure that was happening at the Goodwill store near where we live. We would take boxes of clothes and household items and even some furniture to donate. I have never seen any of it put out on the sales floor. I refuse to donate anything to Goodwill any more. I donate to Community Services. They let people come in and pick out what they need and don't charge them anything. There is also a local church that has a clothing closet.

That is such a crock! In our throw away society, there are way more discarded clothes than people to wear them. Our local thrift store takes 95% of the clothing donations and tosses them into a baler machine that binds them into a gigantic bale, like cotton used to be sold in. Then they ship it to foreign countries, and not for free, either. They are paid for it. Very little of the donations ever is hung up for sale in the shop. If there are homeless people who need the clothes they should be giving them first pick.

We have a "store" in my little town that is called the "FREE STORE". Everything in the store is free. The churches in town have donated money to run this "store" - for the rent, utilities, etc. It is run by volunteers. They get their items from community donations. So, if we have anything we do not want, we take it to the free store. They then give things to people in need. They are only open three days a week. ANYBODY can go in there and take anything that they truly need. I am sure that some people that take things, do not really NEED the things. But, I feel good that the things that I donate, stay in the community. I used to take a gal that I met to get things once in awhile. They could not afford the insurance on their car so they parked it. So, I would take her and she would come out with loads of things for her kids, etc. Mostly garage sale leftover types of things. Not new, but still usable.

People are strange....:). I tell 'em if I don't wear it...I quilt it! Works for me....and I don't care a jot if they think I'm crazy:)

Yes, we ALL have.

Wow! I didn't realize there were so types of 'police'. If I buy something from a thrift store it means money in their cash register and that's all they should worry about. I don't know where these opiniated cashiers come from.

when shopping for items to repurpose and things are in a variety of sizes.... if ppl comment on the variety of sizes... I just smile and state" My family are a variety of sizes" which IS true... altho it may or may not have anything to do with the items I'm purchaseing
I see no reason to explain my reasons for purchases

I don't shop GW much anymore in our area. The GW's are regionally operated. Our prices here are much higher than in the Upstate of SC, like Columbia and Greenville/Spartanburg areas. They have dollar days up there but I have never seen a dollar day in the Charleston areas. In the past few years in our area, GW purchased land and built huge new buildings for their stores. On or about that time, a rich lady in this area died and left GW huge amounts of money to be used for land and buildings! Just think, everything is given to them, they don't have trucks that send and deliver items, they pay very low wages on the guise they are educating/training people and there is generally only 3-4 people working in the whole store. They don't market and occasionally have a commercial on TV about their education/training programs.

I wrote the GW corporate a letter about their huge increase in prices about 2-3 years ago and asked them to explain what their big overheads are. It certainly isn't buildings, land or rent. It must be utilities? GW is definitely a fat-catting, huge corporate enterprise to say the least and the fat-cats are at the top. I never got a response.
Most of the time the clerks are excellent and friendly, some stoic, some in another world pretty much like any other big corporate place including top brand stores.
No one has ever been rude to me at a GW and I do go there occasionally especially when I visit my sister in Spartanburg.
I prefer the Kidney Foundation Community Thrift store in Summerville. I donate lots of things. I had a sofa that was in good condition (not dirty, smelly, or stained) and took it them. I shopped around in the store for a while and went over to the furniture section and there was the sofa! I sold almost immediately. None of their employees are allowed to purchase there. I guess they could have someone come in a purchase it for them but I think the policy is very strict. A couple of times I talked with some of them and they had worked for GW and said the people at GW put things aside when it comes in and hold things for friends and relatives. GW has reached the corporate greed state, imho...

The "Goodwill" stores are a privet enterprise. They are owned by a very wealthy man. You & I donate our things & they are sold for his profit. They pay there help minimal wages. Rowena101