Goodwill outlet store opens on Bannister

By John Sharp

The large new Goodwill retail outlet store at 5000 E. Bannister Rd. at the northwest quadrant of Bannister Rd. & I-435 opened May 30 selling the vast majority of its gently used items such as clothing, smaller household items and shoes for deeply discounted by the pound prices.

Glass items are only 69 cents per pound. Bedding, clothing, smaller houseware, sporting equipment and most other items are just $2.09 per pound and shoes and other footwear are $2.69 per pound.

A few types of items such as bicycles, books, DVDs and heavy furniture are individually priced.

The store has a testing station for electronics such as small kitchen appliances, lamps, microwaves, stereos, TVs and vacuums to make sure they work. It does not carry computers, according to a Goodwill spokesperson.

The outlet store carries a wide variety of items that did not sell quickly enough at the 18 other retail stores operated in the metropolitan area by Goodwill of Western Missouri & Eastern Kansas according to Shannon Burke, director of marketing & communications. The area Goodwill retail store nearest to the Bannister site is the store at 8230 Wornall Rd. in the Waldo area.

It also carries items that are donated directly to it at its outside drop box and drop-off area for large items.

“Shopping at the outlet store is like a treasure hunt, Burke said in an interview. “You can find practically anything you can imagine,” she said.

Besides helping families find extremely inexpensive clothing and housewares, Burke pointed out that Goodwill stores serve an even broader purpose because the profits from all its stores are used to finance training programs for persons who are unemployed or stuck in low-wage jobs to allow them to get good paying jobs with benefits to support themselves and their families.

Plans call for the Bannister store to open an Excel Center in the fall that will offer classes so adults can earn a Missouri high school diploma and other training certificates. Burke said such training might start at another facility if renovations to the Bannister store aren’t complete in time.

The store is now open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, but plans call for it to be open every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the near future.

Persons may apply for positions at the new outlet store or other Goodwill retail stores in the metropolitan area at mokangoodwill.org/careers.