Goodwill phasing in donation acceptance and reopening of stores
Lang
5/9/20
Goodwill of the Heartland has announced plans to phase in donation acceptance and the reopening of its stores.
The secondhand retailer says it will allow its locations in Iowa City, Coralville, Cedar Rapids, Marion, Muscatine, The Quad Cities and Washington to begin taking donations again starting Monday. Those locations will then open up to shoppers starting on Friday. Hours of operation for donating and shopping will be reduced to Monday – Saturday from 11 am – 6 pm and Sunday from 12 pm – 5 pm until further notice.
Goodwill officials say they expect a heavy flow of donations. They cite being closed for the last few weeks combined with people socially distancing at home having more time to clean and organize their residences.
Goodwill is instituting a no-contact donation drop-off procedure. Donors are asked to pre-sort their donations by clothing and non-clothing items in advance and to deposit them directly into large gaylord boxes staged in the donation drive-through lanes at the stores. Goodwill will quarantine all donations for at least 72 hours before processing them for the sales floor.
When stores re-open, shoppers will notice new safety measures:
-Face masks will be required of all employees and shoppers.
-Plexiglass guards will be installed at cash registers.
-Limits will be placed on the number of shoppers allowed in at one time.
-Floor tape will designate places for customers to stand (6 feet apart) in line while waiting to check out.
-Dressing rooms will be closed.
-Drinking fountains will be turned off.
-Cleaning and disinfecting of public and employee areas will take place regularly throughout the day.
-Greeters will be stationed at the front entrance to sanitize carts, welcome shoppers and explain new safety protocols.
For more information and updates as they occur, visit www.goodwillheartland.org