Goodwill of Silicon Valley CEO Christopher Baker is quite excited about the new Goodwill Outlet store opening May 2 in San Jose.
“It’s a double benefit,” said Baker, who has been with Goodwill of Silicon Valley for 15 years and took over the top spot last August. Shoppers, he said, will get an even better price than they would at regular Goodwill retail stores. Not to mention, it’s also keeping more stuff out of landfills. It’s a triple benefit when you consider the extra revenue Goodwill can pump back into its job-training programs.
So how’s a Goodwill Outlet different from one of its regular stores? Like the regular stores, customers can purchase donated clothing, books, household items and electronics — but instead of department store-style shopping, everything at the outlet store is sorted into bins and sold by the pound. Furniture items also will be available at the outlet store at special lower prices and not by weight.
Baker told me that Goodwill processes about 40 million pounds of donated items every year. Not all of that is suitable for Goodwill’s retail store, but instead of being thrown out, those items will now go to the outlet store. Goodwill has a four-week cycle for items in retail stores, and items that are unsold after a month also will go to the outlet.
While other Goodwill organizations in the Bay Area have been weathering difficult times lately, Baker said Goodwill of Silicon Valley is financially strong. This year, it purchased a new building for its headquarters on Technology Drive in North San Jose and plans to lease out some of the floors to nonprofits with similar missions.
The Goodwill Outlet store is at 1685 Tully Road, at the intersection with King Road, and will have its grand opening at 10 a.m. Friday, with remarks from Baker, San Jose City Councilmember Bien Doan and Christina Bui, chair of the Tully Road Eastridge Business Association.
ARTFUL WEEKEND: The monthly South First Fridays art walk is back this week in downtown San Jose, and it’ll be a great opportunity to check out this year’s Latinx Now! art auction exhibition at the MACLA gallery, 510 S. First St. The exhibition showcases the work of more than 30 artists, and it’ll all be auctioned off May 17. Get more information on the auction at www.maclaarte.org and get the full South First Fridays lineup at www.southfirstfridays.com.
There’ll be creativity on display for the eyes and ears in Saratoga this weekend, too. The Saratoga Rotary’s 66th annual Art Show will return to West Valley College on Saturday and Sunday, with sculptures, paintings, photographs and mixed-media art on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. There’ll be plenty of live music to go along with the art, as well. Get more details at www.saratogarotaryartshow.org.
And on Sunday, there’ll be some wonderful sounds at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Saratoga, where acclaimed pianist Katya Grineva will perform in the church’s first concert series on its Imperial Bosendorfer Grand Piano. The church received a grant from the Valley Foundation to acquire the instrument, which is the only one of its kind at a South Bay venue. Tickets to the 4 p.m. concert are $25, but anyone under 16 is free. Go to www.st-andrews-saratoga.org for tickets.
AND THEY’RE OFF: Kentucky Derby fans may be flocking to San Jose Fair Downs at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds on Saturday to watch the Triple Crown race. The Derby Day celebrations start at 8:30 a.m. and will include a contest for best hat, mint juleps and themed food specials and, of course, you can bet on the 3:57 p.m. race there, too. Parking in Lot C is free, but remember to leave the kids at home — you’ve got to be at least 18 to enter.