Goodwill Industries

Used to be a great place to shop. The main stores are constantly raising prices on their electronics. The person that is pricing doesn’t have a cue on the value. Bargain bin is full of nasty garbage. The stores became unorganized and a mess.

This review is NOT for the Bargain Bin next door. I went in that place once and I’ll never go back — mostly because I’m not a fan of picking up contagious diseases while I’m shopping. This review is for the actual Goodwill store — where items are on racks and there is some kind of order to the inventory.
This Goodwill is not in a great neighborhood at all. The Parking lot needs a lot of work and the old «Lowe’s» sits next door and has been vacant for about 10 years now so expect weeds growing up through the asphalt. I typically try to park close to the doors when I come to this location.
I won’t shop for clothing at this location because it’s dirtier than it should be. The only things I look at here are purses and art pieces. Once in awhile I’ll head back to the furniture area just to see what they have but that section is always destroyed and covered in filth with broken items strewn about.
I usually only spend about 15 – 20 minutes in this location and I usually leave empty handed because they don’t typically have anything that catches my eye. I won’t go out of my way to go this store but if I’m in the neighborhood I will stop by.
A few years back I noticed a creeper following my daughter and I around so we left and didn’t go back until recently — I haven’t had any other creeper issues.
Good store to waste some time bargain hunting. Not a good store to actually find real bargains.

This store is a mess! Yuck… the dressing room had pee on the wall and carpet. No one ever cleans the dressing rooms. The clothes are just spilling over. I’m sure the people try their best but they need more help or they need better training. This store has long lines and the customer service is on the low end. A lot of inventory but not organized and definitely not kept clean. I will stick with the Goodwill on Virginia.

Vesta and I have lived in Reno for going on six years now and from the very first week, we fell in love with the Bargain Bin on Oddie, next to the Goodwill Store, because it was a nice place for us to buy props and weird stuff for our photography.
The place was neat and tidy, they organized everything very well, for example the men’s coats would be all together on the same garment table. Baby’s clothes, children’s clothes, same thing.
The books were in crates and multi-​volumes were kept together, so if you wanted an old encyclopedia set set, you could get all the volumes. CD and Records were kept together too as was everything else.
It was, like another Unilocal reviewer has said here, a fun place to shop and we made friends quickly, because we’d see a lot of the same people in there. I remember these two elderly ladies who were voracious readers. They loved going through the books.
Then one day the big wigs from Florida came in and told them they were doing things all wrong. They wanted this store to look like their others. Too much time was spent keeping the place clean. Too much time was spent treating the customers like people. Too much time was spent keeping everything in order.
It was much easier to just throw everything onto these big blue tables and wheel them out. No need to separate anything. No need to keep lamp shades on lamps or printer cords with the printers or book volumes together and so what if everything gets broken.
So that’s what they did. Now they treat their customers like animals. Now the place is always filthy. Now the goods are mostly broken. And now the nice old ladies don’t come in anymore.
And it doesn’t look like that’s really working for them, because people who work there have told me they don’t take in anywhere near the money they used to. Ah well, now it conforms to their other bargain stores and now it apparently reflects Goodwill’s real attitude toward the goods they get for free and the customers who buy them.
The people who run Goodwill ought to be ashamed of themselves.

This place is a complete zoo. Every time I’ve been here there have been unattended children running all over the place, fighting and throwing stuff at each other. I’m not really sure what Goodwill can do about this, but I suppose it’d be nice to read a warning on Unilocal before walking into this place.
On the flip side, if you have kids this may be a great place to let them blow off some steam. As a park I give this place 4 stars.

I stopped in here to check out what was available. It was pretty disappointing. This place was doing a thrift shop version of the wild wild west.
They had some absolutely ridiculous prices on a bunch of items here. Overpriced shoes, sporting goods, archery, and broken /​incomplete toys. The selection of loathing was haphazard. The children’s shoes were all over the place and not in a single area.
Half of the furniture was broken as well or looked very substandard. Hell the bargain bin furniture of trash next store was much nicer than what they had here.
I don’t suggest this place. It is a very poor representation of a thrift shop.

The Goodwill Bargain Bin used to be a fun place to shop. Everything was organized. The store was clean. I used to go in once a week and I’d see a lot of the same people. It was a fun place.
Not anymore. Now it’ a mess. It’s dirty. The goods are thrown on tables without regard as to what they are. So much stuff is broken just because of the way it’s handled. It makes you want to cry.
It’s been two years since I’ve been in there and it’s true a lot can change, but so much. Goodwill took a fun store and ruined it.

This store is dirty, disorganized and rundown anyway, but the customer service is what will make me never come back to this store. Their ‘company policy’ is what will make me never come to any of their other locations.
I went in today around 10 am and I walked around and went to the children’s section. I picked out a couple $.99 shirts. I handed my daughter a little toy and she had fun playing with it as we walked around the store looking at other things. She ended up really liking the toy even though it was a little shabby and only $ 2. One mans trash is another mans treasure, right?
Well we got up to the register and the total of my purchase was under $ 5. Gave the lady (who didn’t bother to even greet me at the register) my bank card and she asked me for my ID. I didn’t have it and so she wouldn’t let me purchase the stuff and I had to take the toy from my daughter who was heartbroken and started crying.
I was upset because I know what discrimination feels like. Apparently I look like someone who would steal a card (because I’m not clearly privileged) that or it’s their policy. So I came in around 1 pm to speak to a manager. While waiting in line to ask for the manager and while waiting for him to come I observed that many customers were not being carded as I had been.
The gentleman who I spoke to told me it was apparently company policy to card for purchases under $ 5. When I told him how I felt about it, and how that policy affected my child he wasn’t empathetic at all, or apologetic. He just plain didn’t try. He told me that it was «for my protection», which is total b.s. I know that is not the case at all, my bank protects me. Goodwill is looking out for itself regardless of if that means a child has to suffer over a $ 2 item.
Whether or not this is company policy the customer service is deplorable and as a matter of fact a policy at a thrift store that prevents small transactions without ID just says to me «poor people cannot be trusted at all.» So that’s bogus and I won’t support a company like that.
I live down the street from both Savers and Goodwill so you better believe I won’t have a reason to come back here again and I’ll be letting my friends and family know as well.

I spend a lot of time in thrift stores in Seattle, and especially Goodwill, so I wondered how Goodwill in Reno would stack up by comparison. The verdict: a really big store with tons of inventory, but not very organized or tidy, and ridiculously long lines.
As you may be able to tell from the pictures, this is a really big store! There are tons of long aisles of clothing racks toward the front half of the store, and shelves of housewares, art, and other home stuff at the back. The huge selection means there’s plenty to choose from if you’re costume shopping or not looking for anything in particular, but it can also be kind of overwhelming.
The store looked fairly messy on the day we were there, with stuff on the floor and clothing tossed over the racks, etc., and it didn’t smell that great. There were also crazy lines at the register — like 20 people waiting in line. So both of these problems may have been because they were extremely short-​staffed that day or something, but still, it made for a less pleasant experience. I almost didn’t buy my items because I didn’t want to get in that huge line and make my friends wait.
As another reviewer noted, there were a lot of «as is» small appliances and kitchen gadgets in taped-​up boxes, enough duplicates of the same item that they seemed to be marked-​out overstock or clearance stuff from another store. Don’t be shy about opening these boxes to make sure the essential parts are in there! Goodwill doesn’t always check boxed items to verify that they contain even the basic minimum of parts needed to put an item together, so you can’t trust what it says on the box.
Overall, not a bad store, and I’m willing to believe that they may have just been having a bad day when I was there. The prices were good and the selection is large, so it’s definitely worth paying a visit if you’re thrifting in Reno.

I am a huge fan of thrift shopping… so on my recent trip to Reno, my boyfriend and I decided to hit up a few stores.
I am from the Bay Area and seriously… the items we found up in Reno, are 50% cheaper than what they would be here in San Jose. I bought a brand new sweater, tags still on, for $ 4.99… at my local Goodwill… the price would have been about $ 10+ for a brand new sweater.
Anyway… this Goodwill is HUGE and CRAZY BUSY. Never seen a thrift store jumpin’ like this place was. Their checkout computer system is top notch… I actually made a comment to my boyfriend that their computers are better than the ones at the front desk at the Eldorado… which is true.
I will definitely be back next time I am in town.

This had a better selection of items than other thrift stores. The prices were good enough that I bought something here. Still, there’s not enough of a selection to bring me back as a regular shopper.

Prices are average in the regular retail side (shoes are crazy overpriced though… $ 15 for used boots?). I highly suggest going next door to the bargain box outlet. Bric a brac is $ 0.25 each and clothing and shoes are sold by the pound. You will have to dig, you will occasionally grab a pair of underwear in the bins, you will sweat but you most likely will find something awesome. I got a big bag of vintage clothes for $ 8. Bring the hand sanitizer and your patience and have fun!

Its a dump… It stinks inside… They dont use the Ac so its like 100 deg in there in the summer… They sell stuff at a good price… Now if they could teach them jerk offs over at the sv reno store how to price stuff and they teach them how to clean goodwill would be great lol

When shopping at thrift stores I expect some nuances with my experience. However, this location has reached beyond «the norm.» My last three visits to this store a homeless person has waited next to my car for me to get out and then asked for money. A paradox since I drive a beater that bareley runs and I’m shopping at Goodwill. Though uncomfortable I typically look past this until the experience I had today. While waiting to enter the store, while shoppers filed in and out, two homeless men were sitting next to the entrance casually discussing hardcore porn in detail amidst young children present. This situation was highly disturbing for various reasons and completely unnecessary. The intention of my review of Goddwill is to give anyone a heads up that may be concerned about shopping in the area.

Like other Goodwills, if you are lucky, the local Walmart or Target has just dumped a bunch of inventory here and you can find some serious bargains. Sample: a brand new Magic Bullet for $ 25, regularly $ 50. And I’m going to be one of those jerks that will open up a taped box to make sure, «as is» or not, that it’s got all its working bits attached. This store, out of all the thrift stores I frequent, actually has the nicest selection of new and used furniture I’ve seen.
I come here whenever I need something for camping or Burning Man — the selection and prices are actually pretty good. And why pay full price for something that’s just going to get used a handful of times or get dirty /​destroyed /​set on fire?

Love love this store, just got to look around. I’m sure you’ll find something you want.

This store you can find some deals, but you can also find some really over price items, and a bunch of crap.
The pros: The store is organized and it clean for a thrift store. You can get some cool items with a bunch of variety. The selection of this store is endless, you can find something for anyone in here.
The cons: This store charges an arm and a leg for their items, sometimes 80 to 100% of original retail prices. Compared to another thrift store they will not negotiate prices on their items. Their return policy stinks on electronic items. No only can you not check the item, but if it is broken you can not return the item, always use a credit card in case you might need to charge back.

In the last two years, I’ve moved a total of two times. The first was TO Reno from the Bay Area, then from one apartment complex to another. My third move will be before I graduate, right after finals and the LSAT — both extremely stressful times, I might add. Thinking ahead, I decided that it was time for me to stop being so sentimental about stuff and to finally chuck a bunch of it — which includes clothes.
What was I going to do with them, though? I can’t throw them away, that would be ridiculous. I can’t give them to the Salvation Army, because they hate gay people. I can’t give them to St. Vincent’s because they’re even WORSE than that — and incredibly preachy. Goodwill, from what I know, doesn’t act like a religious asshole. They give people who may not have a lot of money to spend on clothing and other items the chance, and the chance for them to find a nice outfit for a job interview or for a special occasion. I like that — it’s nice. It’s good karma, and God only knows I need that right now.
So, I gave a lot to Goodwill. I’d say, overall, ten, maybe 11 paper bags filled with them? And a pair of shoes I never wore that I hope someone will make good use out of, because I never did. You think to yourself «I’ll totally wear these one day! I just need the right occasion! It’ll come up the moment I give them away!» Well, newsflash: it doesn’t happen. Seriously. Or maybe it does? What does it matter? If you can afford to donate, you can afford to buy a new pair.
The three stars is for the general sifting through the inventory to buy things (husband needed a vest for the Harry Potter première). I know it’s Goodwill… but I seriously could not wade through that mess. Good luck to those who can!

I love the Reno goodwill stores (relative to other Reno thrift stores) because of the turnover in items. This one is not as good as the South Virginia store (maybe I don’t hit it at the right times). The folks at the cash register are always friendly, especially if I have my daughter with me.
Goodwill, if you”re reading this, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE put a damn bathroom in this store! This place is crawling with kids (and adults) who need to take a leak or have their diapers changed. I should 1) not have to change my daughter on the floor of a damn fitting closet, and 2) not have to see a massive, stinky wet spot where someone has taken a piss on the carpeted floor in the corner of the fitting closet!!!

This Goodwill is packed full of inventory, and if I had ALL DAY to spend in there sifting through their mess, I’m sure I would find some good stuff. As it is, though, they don’t do much to sort things out, which is an especially big problem when they have so much inventory. For example, their children’s section consists of four very long racks that contain all of the clothes size 12 months to 16. Really? You guys can’t even separate out the toddler clothes from the big kid clothes? I was so exhausted after checking the size tags on one of the racks, that I just gave up. It’s even worse for infant clothing… they just throw it all in a big bin.
If you are coming here for books or furniture, this place is fantastic. If you are looking for clothes, be prepared to spend some time.