Park&Co

How we tripled Goodwill's sales in just 5 years to $34 million

Today's retail environment is competitive beyond belief, and the thrift store industry doubly so. Not only do they compete for customers, they also have to fight for donated merchandise to fill their shelves. When Goodwill of Central Arizona came to us in 2002, they were suffering from both a sales and an image problem. In a modern retail culture where you are where you shop, more and more people were walking into Goodwill stores and saying, "This isn't me."

Goodwill's goal was to change their public perception and triple their annual sales of $17 million. And they wanted it done in five years. We started by researching who Goodwill's customers actually were. Although the stores had plenty of low-income "need shoppers," we found that young to middle-aged women with higher incomes made up a significant portion of customers. Attracting more of these "treasure hunters" became the focus of the new campaign. Retail ads emphasized the great finds to be had at Goodwill that you really couldn't get anywhere else-jeans for seven bucks; a lamp for ten. Phrases like, "You'd be surprised who shops here and amazed at what they find." and "You never know what you'll find, but you know you'll find something." emphasized the experience of discovering that name-brand item at an absolute steal.

One of the unique challenges of charity-based retailing is that stores must appeal to the public in order to generate sales AND items to sell. Here too, Goodwill had a perception problem, i.e., most people had no perception of the Goodwill cause: providing job training and placement services to help those in need become self-supporting members of the community. To heighten their "cause awareness" and ensure that their donations kept pace with increasing sales, we created simple, poignant print, TV and radio messaging that put a face and a specific need to the benefit a clothing donation provides.

By 2008, Goodwill's sales had climbed to $54 million, more than tripling their 2002 figures, while they expanded to nearly 40 stores and helped put a record number of people to work. For our efforts, Park&Co landing the 2006 Community Partner of the Year Award as well as the 2007 American Marketing Association Award for Campaign Effectiveness.

With a little help from the right marketing partner, Goodwill of Central Arizona has grown to become the leading competitor in the local thrift market. And that's a success the entire community can share in.

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