Goodwill is about to get a lot trendier. The non-profit clothing reseller is opening a number of upscale boutiques focusing on higher-end clothing and more refined decor, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The upscale Goodwill boutiques are opening up in areas where the retailer finds higher rents and wealthier residents, like Orange County, CA, and Lake Forest, IL. So far, Goodwill has launched 60 of these stores to compete with other luxury second-hand clothing shops, including Buffalo Exchange and Savers. Some of the stores are tailored specifically toward the surrounding area, like one store in Orange County that has a section of vinyl records and a “great selection of flannels,” Frank Talarico Jr., local president at Goodwill, told the L.A. Times. “When you walk into one of our boutiques stores… the typical reaction we receive is, ‘This feels like Abercrombie’ or ‘This is like Anthropologie.'”
Goodwill is launching the stores as a way to offset the economy’s upswing. As people come into more spending money, they will eventually ditch Goodwill for traditional stores, the company’s thinking goes, according to the L.A. Times.
