Goodwill Bargain Hunting

Washougal’s newest business is bringing a bit of goodwill — figuratively and literally — to East Clark County.

Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette (GICW) opened its new Washougal facility on Thursday, Oct. 3, welcoming dozens of eager shoppers and job seekers through its doors.

As a long line of people snaked around the building in anticipation of the store’s 8 s.m. opening, GICW held a grand-opening event, featuring a performance from the Washougal High School cheerleading squad, remarks from Washougal Mayor David Stuebe, and a ribbon-cutting by store manager Rita Gardner.

“This was, by far, was one of my favorite grand openings,” said GICW public relations manager Hayley Platt. “It’s very exciting to be in Washougal. We’ve wanted to be here for a long time. To see the (the store) fully ready to go and full of employees and donations, it’s such a gift. And then to have the kind of celebration that we had this morning with the cheer team and the mayor and everybody coming out, it really feels like we’re in a special community here.”

At the conclusion of his speech, Stuebe handed a black garbage bag to Gardner and told her he was making the “first donation” to the new facility.

“You guys coming into this community (makes us stronger) because we’re all about the people that give back to the community,” he said. “I am so proud of this city because there’s so many good people, and they do such great things for our community, and you guys fit right in. I read your mission statement and all that. It’s all about donations, about purchases, and being part of the community. You guys are coming into our family, and we’re all about taking care of our community.”

GICW operates 51 retail stores, as well as outlet locations, two online shopping sites and several donation centers in the Vancouver-Portland metropolitan area. The company used to operate a small donation center in Washougal, but closed it in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It announced its intentions to build a “superstore” in Washougal in the fall of 2022 and commissioned DOWL, a Portland-based engineering firm, to construct the 23,351-square-foot facility.

“We were just waiting for the right opportunity and for more development in the area to take shape,” Jon Hannam, the company’s director of retail and marketing services, told The Post-Record in 2022. “It’s been in the back of our minds (to come to Washougal) for quite some time, and now things have come to fruition to where we can make that happen. We don’t have a facility out in that part of Clark County, so we are under-serving the population and our territory by not having an opportunity for people out there.”

The building, located at 365 Second Ave., includes 10,000 square feet of retail space and a drop-off donation center.

“A superstore just means you can find pretty much anything in here,” Platt said. “We have anything from clothing and household goods to electronics to furniture (to all kinds of) new merchandise — really, anything that you can think of. That’s why it’s a superstore.”

The building also includes a Job Connection office, where residents can “enhance their personal and professional skills,” according to a news release.

GICW instructors provided nearly 27,000 hours of free skills training and educational services to employees and community members throughout Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington in 2023.

“That’s our mission. It’s the whole point (of what we do),” Platt said. “A lot of people don’t know that you can walk into a Goodwill and get somebody to help you find a job (or update your) resume. Our employment specialists help people who really just need job search support, anything from, ‘I need you to connect me with an employer’ to ‘I need practice for my interviews.’

“We really can help people in any avenue when they’re searching for a new job, and that’s what our Job Connection employment specialists do well. And we’ve got nearly 40 employees here at this store, so that’s 40 new jobs that we created in the community already.”

The facility also offers a variety of free classes, including Excel, English-as-a-second-language, and citizenship.

“It is so rewarding,” Platt said. “There are countless stories of people who either were struggling in their life and then found Goodwill and completely turned their life around. For us, it’s about community outreach. It’s about wanting to give back to give back to the community and partner with the community members, helping people find jobs, getting them back to work, really just trying to make a positive impact in and around Washougal. We’re super excited to be here.”