ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Shoppers hoping to economize or find one-of-a-kind deals have been filling their carts at newly opened MERS Goodwill locations in the St. Louis region.
President and CEO Dave Kutchback says donors have had more time to purge their homes of unwanted items during shelter-in-place orders and donations have been generous. Kutchback says the charity may benefit from a lack of yard sales this spring if residents decide to donate instead of waiting to sell items on their own.
He adds customers have been purchasing more items than before the COVID shutdown. Kutchback says there is a core group of shoppers who like the adventure of finding bargain treasures. He says all of that will help the charity bring more of its staff back to work. Currently, about 60% of employees have been called back to the retail locations and donations sites that have reopened.
Locations in St. Louis City and County reopen this week.
MERS Goodwill is offering touchless donation – asking donors to place items in bins that will be stored in trailers for a quarantine period. The charity is asking donors to wait a couple of weeks before dropping off donations, if possible to make the flow of items more manageable for staff. Donation sites are unable to take large furniture items at this time.