Goodbye Goodwill?

I was saddened to hear that Goodwill has, effective immediately, closed 18 of its Ontario stores. My thrift shopping skills were honed when I spent a few months working near the old Richmond street store. My best score from that shop was a Judith Leiber lizard skin purse (which I sadly do not have pictures of). And my decsent into the rabbot hole of watch collecting started when I bought a jar filled with broken jewellery and an old Timex automatic there as well.

It all happened so fast. i was just at the St. Clair store last week. On one hand, I should not be surprised that it is shuttered. The economy is not great and there have been reports of financial mismanagement as well. But at the same time I feel for the employees (part of Goodwill’s charitable mission was to provide jobs and training to people who faced barriers due to disabilities and social disadvantages). And I feel for for folks in the community who relied on Goodwill to help stretch their household budgets.

So here’s a toast to the Goodwill. And here’s a picture of the last thing I purchased there — I’d been searching for a well-made leather tote since I saw my friend Paul’s carry all at Baselworld 2015. And I finally found one last week.