Goodwill quarantines donations during coronavirus, reopens a dozen Carolinas stores
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Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont has quietly reopened 12 of its stores in the Carolinas, and is quarantining donations and taking other measures to help prevent spread of the novel coronavirus.
Goodwill employees now wear masks and gloves. Sneeze guards have been installed at all registers. Any donated clothes or other items are quarantined for 72 hours.
N.C. Goodwill stores opened last weekend under Gov. Roy Cooper’s first of three phases reopening the state, Samantha Story, Goodwill’s public relations and communications manager, told the Observer. Phase 1 began at 5 p.m. Friday, May 8.
The stores are in Ballantyne, Pineville, Weddington, Steele Creek, Cornelius, Huntersville, Second Editions, Concord and Franklin Square, according to Goodwillsp.org.
S.C. Goodwill stores opened a couple of weeks ago in Fort Mill, Rock Hill and Lancaster, following a similar easing of restrictions by Gov. Henry McMaster, she said.
Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont closed its retail stores and donation centers in the Carolinas on March 26 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The stores reopened with no alerts to the media, so employees could acclimate to the new COVID-19 measures before a possible crush of donations, Story said. An official announcement is expected by week’s end, she said.
“Our approach was to open gradually over three weeks’ time with reduced hours,” Chris Jackson, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont, said in a statement later Wednesday. “We wanted to give our team members time to get back to work and to become familiar with more than a dozen new safety protocols.
“We appreciate the community’s eagerness to donate and shop at our reopened locations, because their generosity makes it possible for us to provide the employment services we know so many in our community need at this time,” Jackson said.
While the stores were closed during the pandemic, Goodwill had pleaded with people not to dump their donations or trash at its stores.
Their stores are in eight counties in the greater Charlotte area: Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Union, Lancaster, S.C. and York, S.C.
Other changes
The stores added these other COVID-19 preventive measures, according to Goodwill’s website:
▪ Floor graphics showing where to walk and encouraging social distancing while you wait in the check-out line.
▪ Yellow tape marking 6-foot spaces outside the stores for those waiting to enter due to occupancy restrictions.
▪ A greeter who disinfects shopping carts and counts customers as they enter and leave, to ensure the stores meet occupancy mandates.
▪ Temporarily closing its fitting rooms.
▪ Quarantining donations and returns for 72 hours before putting them on the sales floor. Donors need to put their items in carts at the stores.
▪ Allowing you to request that a Goodwill employee put your donation receipt in your trunk or backseat instead of handing it to you.
▪ Restrooms and break rooms stocked with hand soap, working hand dryers and/or paper towels.
▪ Hourly cleaning of all high-touch areas such as door handles
▪ Goodwill team members completing safety training and, before each shift, completing a safety check.
▪ Reserving the store hour of 9-10 a.m. Tuesdays exclusively for seniors and those with underlying medical conditions to shop.
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