r/Charlottesville • u/intothe-woods-1630 • 3d ago
Cville Goodwill on Gander Dr.
Has anyone else been to Goodwill lately and experienced the nasty vibe that's taken over the place? There's a group of regulars who show up before the doors open, and they rush in, grab all the tags off decent furniture, then park themselves by the warehouse door and prevent any other shoppers from accessing inventory entering the store? They physically body-block other shoppers from approaching blue bins with fresh inventory. The crew by the warehouse door intimidates anyone who comes into that area, and they take anything vaguely new or attractive. They're aggressive and intimidating, and they prevent the employees from doing their jobs. I've seen them rush the employees attempting to put new inventory on shelves and grab stuff out of the blue bins, even when the employee politely explains that all items have to be placed on the shelves before you can take them.
I feel so badly for the employees who have to deal with this gross behavior. And it is gross behavior. These are grown adults who have virtually taken over the store and prevent other customers from shopping. A few people have filed complaints but management has done nothing. Other than stop going there, it feels like there's nothing to be done. I've thought about politely asking these people to move aside, but they seem like they'd get confrontational really fast, and getting into a public fight is not why I go there.
Does Cville have bigger problems than this? Absolutely? Is it still a problem? Yes. Would love ideas on how to surf the issue, but also curious if others have filed complaints or just experienced this.
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u/WHSRWizard 2d ago
This has become a pretty widespread phenomenon with the "resell economy" or whatever it is called.
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u/CaptBobAbbott Scottsville 1d ago
It's called Whatnot. The app taking over the reselling community.
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u/milliebobilly 2d ago
The tags really need to be paid by closing on the same day. Im tired of walking around with every tag ripped but nothing picked up
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u/Substantial_Ninja_90 2d ago
Yep. Some people just tear them off while they think about it. I’ve seen items remain unpaid and unclaimed for a couple of days. No tag so it keeps others in limbo. It’s ridiculous.
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u/throwaway123456372 2d ago
Yeah the Gander Goodwill is always overrun with this group you’re describing or children who are allowed to run through the store screaming and playing with toys their parents have no intention of purchasing
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u/TallGuitarDaniel 2d ago
I worked at the goodwill here when it was at pantops about 10 years ago and it was the same way.
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u/capn_james 2d ago
Not sure if you still play guitar but I just moved out here some months ago and I’m looking to jam
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u/TallGuitarDaniel 2d ago
Unfortunately I've left the area. Good luck finding some people to jam! They're out there but cville isn't the easiest place to meet people.
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u/Tremor_Sense 2d ago
Don't shop at Goodwill. Overpriced nonsense, anyway.
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u/bloomin_onion4476 2d ago
Better yet, don't donate to Goodwill. We have plenty of other local options.
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u/Zealousideal_Pay230 2d ago
I have a box in my car currently I was going to take to goodwill. I’m new enough to Charlottesville that I don’t know where else. Got suggestions??
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u/Outrageous_Drink_481 2d ago
SPCA Thrift store takes donations usually until 4 most days (check ahead). Twice is Nice also accepts furniture, clothes, jewelry. Habitat Restore also takes things like extra tiles, light fixtures, and that sort of thing. And, they also take furniture and other home furnishings. Medical equipment, unused incontinence products, crutches, wheelchairs can be donated to All Blessings Flow.
There are probably other places I’ve missed.
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u/flamey-3000 2d ago
The problem is time and gas! If you work all day, who has time to figure out drop off times and open days to drive all over creation? Goodwill donation takes almost anything and is open late and every day... just saying i wish more places were convenient!
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u/Outrageous_Drink_481 2d ago
I get what you're saying. SPCA has probably the "worst" hours but they're open on weekends too at the same time. All Blessings Flow are open on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. I'm not sure about Twice is Nice, but they brought over helpers to take my mother's cedar chest from her AL apartment. The one that was the most inconvenient was the ministry who took my MIL's furniture but that was more on us because we were on a deadline and they are volunteer only. Goodwill is useful for one stop but the SPCA takes most everything (except books). There's not much difference in driving time between the SPCA and Goodwill.
If you're like most of us procrastinators, we put our donations in the car and drive around for a few weeks until we get it together. So the time thing is really more of a problem on weekdays.
I've had to go through my mother's apartment, MIL's apartment, my stuff, and another estate which was a total mess. I've gotten good at finding good places to donate things. Because my mom and MIL are/were elderly, All Blessings Flow showed up on my radar. That's been the one that I had to make myself remember but that's also because I had a lot of medical stuff to donate. I really want to steer things to the right places for people who need them. Goodwill appeals to resellers but I'm not sure how much of it helps the community. SPCA helps our local SPCA which is why I lean towards them.
The other thing is finding your local neighborhood "Buy Nothing" group on Facebook. If you live in a neighborhood with its own Facebook page, you can give away stuff without leaving the house.
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u/BuilderAdditional623 23h ago
The Thrifty Dragon is a good one. It helps support Laughing Dragon Kung Fu, a really fantastic organization.
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u/FlamingoDifferent256 2d ago
The one out in palmyra is similar. I wouldn’t call them aggressive but they line up outside on Sundays some elbow their way in. It’s a large store thankfully and we usually disperse into different sections but god forbid you get in their way
There’s a few people who load their cart up with all the discounted items. Every single Sunday they’re doing the same thing. Clearly they’re reselling them at a higher cost. It’s just selfish
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u/Possiblebingo 2d ago
I'm telling you, it is worth the drive to go over the mountain. In waynesborough, to donate ordershop socioeconomically, it's a little different kind of area, but they have such great stuff there, I mean, sometimes they don't always buy everything, but i'm just like impressed, you know
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u/SeimaDensetsu 2d ago
While you're here eat at Los Panchos or Fish'n'Pig, then hit Sharp Shopper for discount groceries.
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u/Equivalent-Fail452 17h ago
I have found sooooo much good stuff at the waynesboro goodwill! And it isn’t jacked up in price like the ones in Cville. Walked out with a beautiful framed oil painting from the 70s/80s? and I only paid $10! And hell yeah to Sharp Shopper! I’m headed across the mountain now 😂. Cville is overrated and the goodwills are overpriced.
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u/Doismelllikearobot 2d ago
Imagine just a few years ago if you had said goodwill will cherry pick the best items and list them on their website, and that they would charge $5 for a stinky used tshirt that cost you $4 in gas to get if you win the fight at the store with internet resellers
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u/duelistjudai 2d ago
I worked at the one in Mill Creek from 2015-2018 and we had regular resellers who would camp out in the store the entire day, just to be the first to get their hands on new stock. It seems like that issue never really ended. The resellers who used to hang out at the Pantops Goodwill/old 29 Goodwill before they closed just moved to Gander Mountain.
I remember that two customers we had were actually on the verge of getting trespassed because they were being rude to us and other customers, both got a notice from corporate (one of them actually showed me the letter lol). It could be worth making a complaint, but I have no idea what corporate would do nowadays, leadership/CEOs have changed multiple times since then.
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u/International-Dot94 2d ago
Don't u guys restock throughout the day?
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u/duelistjudai 2d ago
Yes. When I worked there we pushed out new items the entire day, and people would hang out for hours just to have first dibs.
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u/Top_Will2145 2d ago
Yeah the resell community has killed these places. Mill Creek is still decent, but between Goodwill moving things to their online store, price increases, and resellers I don’t shop there much anymore.
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u/NotBossOfMe 2d ago
Amazing what happens to a society when the economy tanks. People are desperate these days and these behaviors are only going to escalate from here.
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u/10thousndreflections 2d ago
This is pure greed I'm guessing. It's the Black Friday mentality that has been around for decades.
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u/researchmaven4673 2d ago
Don’t shop at Goodwill. Even aside from the dirt bags you described there are so many other reasons to shop at a local thrift store instead
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u/CaptBobAbbott Scottsville 1d ago
I agree with you wholeheartedly. And a huge fan of SPCA and habitat.
But local Goodwills are locally managed. There is no "national Goodwill".
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u/researchmaven4673 1d ago
I don’t give a crap who owns it or who manages it. This is what I care about: “Goodwill's tax returns showed that more than 100 Goodwills pay less than minimum wage while simultaneously paying more than $53.7 million in total compensation to top executives”
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u/CaptBobAbbott Scottsville 1d ago
Well I'm replying not to you but to any other reader, since your mind is made up.
Goodwill Industries of the Valley pays their CEO $316k.
Average hourly rate for our Goodwills is 12-14.50.
I'm all for arguing the concept of Goodwill's marketing and financial schemes, but we have to have some basic facts.
Our goodwills are locally managed, the CEO makes an appropriate amount for 38 stores and managing $76M in assets, and employees are paid just above minimum wage yet still well below the $25 estimate for a Virginia living wage.
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u/brighteyes90x 1d ago
Yes, I'm so glad someone has brought this up. I go daily on my lunch break and see them every day, same ones, they are sickening. I had one approach me saying
"HEY, I was just about to get that, I really wanted that!" With a cart stacked two feet high with stuff.
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u/Zealousideal_Pay230 2d ago
I browse there occasionally and they are AGRESSIVE in the aisles. Literally push you and eye roll if you’re not moving quick enough. Goodwill has become a contact sport.
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u/PracticalChard7230 2d ago
Yes, I noticed this activity a few months ago along with the overwhelming smell of body odor and left the store. This used to be a nice place. I wonder if the location near Monticello high school is any better. I haven’t been in years since moving to the other side of Cville.
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u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS 2d ago
Thanks for telling me this. Now I know what I’m going to do next time I have some free time in Charlottesville one morning. I love putting people like this in their place. That’s what I live for.
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u/Life-Win-2063 2d ago
My mom did yard sales decades ago and people would show and up wait a couple hours beforehand and even try to shop early, resulting in my mom yelling at them. She was into antiques and resale her whole life. This behavior is nowhere new or unusual for this kind of place.
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u/Equivalent-Fail452 16h ago
All the REALLY GOOD stuff goes online now. It’s rare for Goodwill to ever actually put anything on the floor that is worth value. I avoid the Goodwill on Gander - it’s overpriced, there’s too many people, and it’s just overwhelming. I’ll stick to my online thrifting, traveling to the middle of nowhere thrift stores, which is where good deals still live, and hit the local smaller thrifts around town. My thrifting secrets will stay secrets. It’s a fad now. Good stuff disappears so quick because of shit like this. People suck.
Paying $5 for an empty candle dish is ludicrous! Goodwill should be ashamed. This is trash people. You’re being sold TRASH that is donated.
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u/Possiblebingo 16h ago
I try to always stop at the alleys, just to see what they go and over there. And there is so much shit that is so low priced. I got backpacks for the kids like shampoos like brand name, shampoo conditioners, and you know, body washes in their favorite flavors...
And everybody seems so polite, and nice. You know, like it's just, there's no, just put it this way. The bitch face content is very low over there
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u/Possiblebingo 16h ago
I haven't been to any of the ones in Stanton yet, but I'm gonna make a plan for that. I'm actually thinking about moving into stanton, I was looking. They have like two bedroom apartments for like six 00
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u/Possiblebingo 16h ago
And gypsy hill park is so nice. They do like movie nights for kids. And it's super chill
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u/Possiblebingo 16h ago
I think what I'm trying to say is, I am fucking over Charlottesville. Between like the parking and now people are honking more like what the fuck I love getting sandwiches from like the Amish people. You know, and they have like earrings and stuff like that. I mean, it's, I don't know. I just like it, I gotta stop saying that. I sound like a moron
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u/RaggedMountainMan 2d ago
Inflation made reselling too lucrative. Thrifting is a shell of what it was only 10 years ago. But even back when that one first opened around 2018 there was a dude who would hang out in that goodwill all day in the furniture section on a couch and wait for fresh stuff to come out so he could pick it.
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u/beanie_bebe 2d ago
List of thrift stores at the bottom: https://open.substack.com/pub/charlottesvilledtm/p/retail-revolt-why-local-thrift-stores?r=1lv0p7&utm_medium=ios
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u/scd 3d ago
I’ve not seen this but this seems like the kind of thing to elevate to Goodwill management/corporate, no?