The squeak of hangers sliding across metal racks ramped up Friday afternoon as the price of all clothing at the Goodwill store in Portland dropped from half-off to a dollar or less, a day before the Forest Avenue location closes after 16 years.
The property owner’s plans to build senior housing on the land forced Goodwill Industries of Northern New England to find a new location, which it happened to be looking for anyway, said spokesman Ken Christian. The retail center supports the work of Goodwill Industries, which provides job support and training for people with disabilities and others.
A larger 12,600-square-foot store with an attached donation center will open Thursday on Larrabee Road in Westbrook, where the 35 employees from the Portland store will relocate.
Customers on Friday said the 3-mile move won’t stop them from shopping at the store. Some even preferred it.
“I live in Westbrook,” said Sue Leo, 55, who shops at the Portland secondhand store a couple of times a month.
A few shirts hung from her arm Friday as she combed through a rack of clothes. At $1 apiece, she wasn’t being too picky.
“If I don’t want them, somebody will,” she said.
Christian said it’s easier for the company to sell the clothes on the cheap than have to move them. That worked out well for Sandra Smith, 61, of Portland, who stopped by the store for the first time, unaware of the sale.
“It’s better than getting a lottery ticket,” she said with a shopping cart full of clothes beside her.
Aimee Nyirakanyana, 38, of Portland also had a cart with a mound of clothes in all sizes. She normally shops at the Goodwill store near the Maine Mall, but happened to stop by the one in Portland on Friday.
“I usually get a couple things, but now I buy for all my kids,” said the mother of six.
Goodwill Industries of Northern New England is based in Portland and has 30 stores in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. In its fiscal year 2013-14, it reported $71 million in revenue, according to its 990 Form filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
The Portland store will be torn down to accommodate an $18 million expansion of The Park Danforth, a 124-unit, seven-story building located just behind Goodwill and facing Stevens Avenue. The existing complex includes market rate and subsidized housing, and some assisted-living units. The units in the new addition will all be offered at market rates and would not include any assisted-living apartments. Plans for the addition were approved by city officials in February.
With stores in Gorham, Falmouth and two in South Portland, the area is well served, even without a Portland store, Christian said. But, he added, “We’re always looking for new properties, especially in Portland, that would suit us.”
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