When we had the Goodwill color tag rotation guessing game awhile back, some of you were suprised to learn that there’s a Goodwill Outlet right here in the Springs! They moved locations a couple of years ago, and I’d been to their old one on Platte but not their new location on El Paso, and I thought it was high time for another visit and review.
The Goodwill Outlet is located at 3506 North El Paso, just a few blocks north of Fillmore. It’s pretty small, much smaller than a normal Goodwill.
There’s two rooms – as you enter, there’s a couple of tables and a small area for books, toys, electronics, and housewares, and then clothes racks line a couple of walls.
The second room is basically wall-to-wall clothing, with a couple of tables of shoes. I was curious how the “outlet” part of the store worked, so I asked Laura from Goodwill to explain a little bit about the process. In response to how long items stay on the floor at the Outlet, she said that typically items are in the outlet for about a week. New items are added daily. So, it sounds like the stock rotates pretty frequently.
The items that are sold at the Outlet at the ones that don’t sell in the “regular” stores in their normal four-week cycle. Because of space constraints at the Outlet, they don’t always send everything that doesn’t sell to the Outlet – just whatever they have room for.
The prices at the Goodwill Outlet are rock-bottom: adult clothing is $1 (I believe children’s clothing is 50¢), shoes are $1, purses and luggage are $1, books and toys are 25¢. No refunds or returns are accepted.
I didn’t find much that suited my taste at the outlet – however, I am pretty confident that if you spent sometime looking, you could definitely find some hidden treasures. There were a lot of clothes straight from the 1980s, but I did see some a nice pair of boys’ shorts and some little boys’ shoes that were totally worth the 50¢ and $1 they were priced at.
Just keep in mind that you probably won’t walk into the outlet and find something you just have to have in the first thirty seconds, like it seems always happens to me at the other Goodwill stores. It will take some searching, but you know that’s how the best deals are found anyway!
Laura also let me know that on occasion the Goodwill Outlet will run a grab bag sale on the weekend. The best way to find out about these is to call the store – and of course if I happen to find out about one ahead of time, I’ll certainly let you know!
You can view a few more photos of the Goodwill Outlet on Flickr.
Carrie’s Take
What was good:
- Rock-bottom prices
And not as good:
- Obviously, the best stuff is generally going to sell in the “normal” Goodwill stores, so you’ll have to search quite a bit more to find something you want to buy.
Goodwill Outlet Information
Location: 3506 N. El Paso St. (just north of Fillmore)
Phone: 719.328.1899
Website: Goodwill-ColoSprings.org
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM
Parking: parking lot
Payment Methods Accepted: cash, Visa, Mastercard – no checks.
Have you been to the Goodwill Outlet? Find any amazing deals that you can’t believe didn’t get snatched up before they made it to the Outlet? Share your own opinions by leaving a comment; I’d love to hear!
More thrift store reviews here.
Do they still do the “sell it by the weight” thing? I remember years ago when the outlet was down on south academy there were certain times you could go there and get everything weighed and then paid like $1 or $2 per pound or something. This was probably over 10 years ago, and my mind is a bit fuzzy on the details!
Hello Valerie, I just moved to Colorado and went to check out the goodwill outlet store.
They will restart selling clothes by pound starting next year in 2014! Im very excited!
Valerie, we no longer sell items by the pound. You are correct that we used to sell items in this way at a store located on South Academy. We invite you to stop in and visit our current Outlet Store in central Colorado Springs.
I went to the outlet store today for the first time. I used to go to the one on Platte and found quite a few things there that we were able to use. This outlet is quite a bit smaller, as Carrie mentioned, and it had mostly clothing, as Carrie mentioned.
The signs said that clothing was $1. I wanted to ask the man that was working there about the price of children’s clothing (since a lot of it is $1 in the regular Goodwill stores), but he was telling stories…about some pretty gruesome stuff…to a customer. My daughter is a bit young for the things he was talking about (icky ways people have died), so I ushered her to the back room for a bit. I didn’t really see anything I we needed at this time, but I still wanted to ask about the children’s clothing, but that didn’t work out – he got a phone call, then I couldn’t find him, so we just left.
I adore Goodwill, but I’m not sure I’ll make the trip back to the outlet. It wasn’t the best experience. Sorry.
Laura, thanks for your post and children’s clothing question. The price of our children’s clothing in our traditional stores depends on the size and type of clothing. You will find some items such as T-shirts and pants .99 in our traditional stores but other items such as sweatshirts and coats will be more. At times we have children clothing sales at the Outlet Store to clear out a surplus of these items and shoppers can find children’s items for .50. Going forward we plan to share these sales with Carrie so she can share them with her readers.
Thank you also for sharing the uncomfortable situation you and your daughter experienced. This is not the shopping experience we aim for our customer to have. We have discussed appropriate communication topics with this individual and appreciate you letting us know this happened. If you’d like to e-mail lmarth@goodwill-colosprings.org your mailing address, we’d like to invite you to visit our Outlet Store again with a complimentary gift card. Thanks for your response because it helps make our stores better.
I always check the outlet store out. I was starting a new job and was low on funds and needed some pants. I went there and found some for only a dollar ended up with 5 pairs. Peolple need to check this place out if they don’t mind second hand. Going there again today. The guy(blong hair) that works there is always very friendly and always welcomes you back.
Does the guy at the register have the right to change the price of Items as he sees fit? seems every thime I go in there and find something I like he changes the price.
He will look at labeles inside or check purses and then say OH No this one is not a dollar! Well I think that is false advertizing it says all clothing and purses.
I noticed he did put up as sign that says staff can change the price is this right.
And what is the price of your Blankets and luggage? I live on a very thight budget or else I would not be shopping there I need to know what the prices are before I get to the register not have them changed once I get there.
I’m thinking of not going back, I have friends that have experinced the same thing, We are poor folks thats why we go there.
This store is on the verge of a lawsuit for false advertisement. The signs post ALL clothing $1. then when you get up to the cash register the guy changes the prices and says, ” Well this jacket is a levi’s blah blah blah so I’ve gotta charge you $3.” huh??? Are you kidding me? I will take this to the top. When I go to Safeway and the eggs are marked $3. I don’t expect for the cashier to say,” Well these are actually $5.” Next time I will wear a tape recorder and you will know what I mean.
Is this store still open? Does it have the same hours? Anyone know?
It is still open…not sure about the hours. :) I would call to find out!
They reduced their hours with no notice, websites are all wrong, just a small sign in front door. Only open fridays and saturdays now, perfectly useless for me.
They are only open Friday and Saturdays 10-5. Anyone been there recently? I wonder if it’s even worth my time or gas to check it out.
All I can say is OMG! I finally got over there today. The guy at the register is so full of himself it’s unbelievable! He makes up prices and thoroughly inspects and discusses each item that comes to the register and how much he thinks he should charge. I thought this was Goodwill, not a garage sale. LOL! Also, the guy won’t shut up…blah, blah, blah. I wish he had an “off” button. He keeps blabbing about all the stuff he’s seen come through there and how much he charged people for stuff. No-one wanted to listen but he just keeps talking He really is on a power trip with the ability to charge people whatever he feels like! In my opinion what he is doing is a turn-off and seems very unprofessional. I won’t be back as long as he’s there making up prices like that. If all toys are .25 cents (as it is posted on the wall for all to see) then he should just charge .25 cents—- not .50 cents, $1, etc etc etc. It’s ANNOYING!!! Does the management at Goodwill Industries know what is going on there??? Someone needs to tell them!
Dropped in today (Tues.) to check this place out, but the guy came in from another room and told me they were closed. I pointed out that the large sign outside still says they are open Tues-Sat, but he pointed to a tiny paper sign stating the “new” hours. Really, if it has been since April that the hours have been this way, then the large sign should be gone. Also, the weekend is my time with family and not the best time to be bargain hunting.
Even though they were closed, the guy in the store spent several minutes talking about their prices and how the sticker price is always subject to change at the register. I find this outrageous. If the price has been posted then that is what the price should be and none of this subject to change business. The posted prices are low, but not really any lower than I have found in many regular Goodwills. This is a outlet store for a secondhand store chain. It really is no wonder they are cutting hours so far back. They’re not going to sell much this way. As for me, I’m sticking to the Arc and regular Goodwill.
I just want to add to my post above that I emailed Goodwill about my concerns after my last visit and I never heard back from them. I guess they just don’t care???