Goodwill Industries

This is the best Goodwill for packaged never used baby items from target. Go Tuesday or Wed. for best selections. Employees are really nice and helpful!

This review is for the Carol Stream Goodwill Industries! Hands-​down this is my FAVORITE place to go when I have some time to grab some deals for unique items. I’ve visited to several other locations and this by far is my most favorite location. The place is very clean, the staff is always friendly and nice especially Pat. The other staff is constantly changing so its hard to keep track of them. Now first and foremost, I’m not a fan of purchasing used items, in fact I hardly if ever do buy anything that is used. I am always surprised with the generous amount of electronics that is like a blast from the past. I’m somewhat of an electronics geek and constantly look at old technology which ranges from original Nintendo, typewriters, record players and Atari to name a few. I am always on the lookout for those excellent clearance items that Target generously donates to Goodwill. The prices are usually really good compared to other locations too. For example, I found an item for sale at the Glendale Heights location which was over the full asking price if I were to buy the item brand new at Target. I argued with the staff who secretly took the item to the back of the swinging doors and somehow they determined that was the price of the item. I said for that price and for that item, «No, thank-​you». Several days I went there, I found the same item on the shelf untouched and with the same asking price. Silly stupid reasoning of how things are supposed to be priced, but I digress. If you’re a fan of checking out those clearance items at the end caps of Target which I am, this is the place where you’ll find those items as they end up at Goodwill. Goodwill provides good training opportunities to those who would not be otherwise working. Superb place that I highly recommend for checking it out as you’ll never know what you’ll find. Bring $ 10 or $ 20, you’ll be surprised how long that will go there. I also recommend you sign up for their rewards card, which offers $ 5 off coupons for future purchases.

I’ve never been inside a Goodwill store. I don’t know why, TBH. Sure, I drop things off religiously, but not once had I been inspired to set foot inside. But, money’s tight and I’m starting to really look for ways to save a dollar here or there. So a few weeks ago, I decided to stop in and see what it was all about.
I’m so glad I did! Walking in, I immediately noticed jeans. Lots and lots and lots of jeans. I found a few pairs I liked, tried them on, and found one pair I deemed as a keeper. $ 4.99, say what!!! I felt like I hit the jackpot. Feeling inspired, I checked out the sweaters and long sleeve shirts. I managed to find a thin, gray fitted long sleeve shirt (great for layering) for $ 3.99, and a pink fluffy sweater, perfect for work or weekend for $ 4.99.
I did check out some of the houseware items, and immediately I found a wooden giraffe picture, perfect for my sister who just had a baby and has the whole giraffe theme going on. And score, it was $ 2.99.
This store is clean, and the shirts arranged by color pleased my OCD self. Yes, I’m one of those that arranges my closet by color. If I would have had a bit more time, I’m sure I would have discovered more office appropriate clothes, which I’m in need of. I did find some great dress pants, but none in my size unfortunately. There looked to be a decent selection of shoes, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to buy used shoes. It just creeps me out.

Well! I came here in search of ugly sweaters and found much more…
I used to shop at Goodwill ALL the time. I’m not sure what changed, but I somehow got out of the habit. It was great for finding strange and unique pieces for my crazy wardrobe in high school and college. Maybe as my tastes have aged (read: become more dull), I forgot how a thrift store can be a clothing jackpot. My memory has been sufficiently jogged by this visit!
I did find the ugly sweaters I was looking for, for the whole fam (we have a party tomorrow), but there were plenty of just fine clothes I’d wear regularly, too. And why not? I know our family donates some decent stuff here, and we are obviously not the only ones.
I like this location for its convenient drop off… you can almost just drive thru, and they’re good about providing a receipt if you need one for tax deduction. I did read that Goodwill’s CEO is making a killing though, which causes me to pause and doubt the authenticity of the company’s mission. However, when you are in a hurry to get rid of awful gifts people have given your children before anyone notices they’re missing, this place can’t be beat.

Hands down, this location is the best one for me. Despite it being in a town that I despise (read my reviews for the Carol Stream PD for more details on that), I risk my driver’s license and come here regularly. I NEVER leave disappointed. The quality of donations just seems to be better here. Plus it is the cleanest one, too.
Should I feel ashamed that the cashiers know me and remember what I scored there the last time? Too bad, I don’t.

rude employees
from my experience

This is hands down *the* cleanest Goodwill that I have ever visited. The only thing that gives it away as a used goods store was a few items that were dotted by bleach stains and marked slightly higher than I think they should have been. Everything else was in great condition and very well organized. I had no problem locating a pair of jean shorts to complete my Sun Drop girl costume for ACen. I also found five other pairs of shorts and a dozen green shirts. The man working the Dressing Rooms didn’t hassle me about wanting to try on so many things. He simply reminded me to remove all articles of clothing from the stall when I was finished.

I don’t really buy anything here, or ever really go inside, but I’ve been donating for awhile now and everyone is always nice. It seems like every other weekend I’m dropping more stuff off. Yay for streamlining my life and contributing to the well-​being of others at the same time!

This place is quite the treasure trove. You can find lots here, but you have to go in and dig around. It’s not going to pop out at you!
I was shocked at how clean this store was. It is definitely missing that musty, basement smell that lots of secondhand stores have.
I have bought a few clothing items here. and the dressing rooms are very nice. There is tons of kitchen stuff here and I just got some spoons for 10 cents each. I don’t know what the deal is with spoons in my house, but they disappear frequently. They probably go to that spot with the socks that you can’t find.
The staff here is very pleasant, better than some of the employees at regular retail stores. So there’s no reason for you to avoid this place. Check it out!

This place is awesome for cheap and quality second-​hand clothing. There are fitting rooms to try on stuff, which is awesome. There are plenty of employees to help take away things that don’t fit and ring up your purchases. The clothing is organized by color and size, which makes for an easy shopping experience. The quality is great considering the price and selection. They have belts too, and most of them are $ 1 a piece! I grabbed like a handful of them lol. Needless to say, I won’t need to buy belts for a while… Books are really cheap too. I didn’t look at anything but books and clothes, so I don’t remember what else they were selling, or the quality of it.
I think that the closest competitor would be the Salvation Army. I don’t know the differences between them behind the scenes wise, but I would recommend going to both and setting aside plenty of time to browse. The average clothing item (shirt maybe) at Goodwill costs about $ 4 maybe, and the average shirt costs like $ 1-​$ 2 at the Salvation Army.
Summary:
Goodwill has better quality stuff than Salvation Army, and it’s better organized (by size and color, whereas it’s just by color at the Salvation Army… That means looking through tons and tons of stuff that’s not your size! How annoying!).
If you’re patient, you can find some really great stuff at ridiculously low prices at the Salvation Army. But between the two, I’d pick Goodwill.