By Caroline Kilaru
Staff Writer
This story is the fifth in a series about thrift shopping in our community. This week, we profile the Hillsborough Goodwill Community Foundation Donation Center and Store, located at 520 Hampton Point Blvd. in Hillsborough.
Though it’s best to stop by your neighborhood thrift store quickly and often, shoppers will need to break the rules and drive to Hillsborough if they’re in the market for clothing.
A straight shot north up N.C. 86, the Goodwill Community Foundation (GCF) Donation Center and Store is well worth the drive for those looking to outfit men, women or children. Glassware, housewares, books and toys are also abundant.
“We have a constant flow of items, mostly clothing, donated from the surrounding areas,†said manager Mark King.
Best bets
The 10,000-square-foot retail space is one large room, brightly lit by windows and fluorescent lights. Endless rows of clothing are arranged in the center of the room by type and color; the result is a rainbow of racks that keeps shoppers browsing for hours.
Glass cases at the front hold jewelry and watches. Shelves line the walls and are filled with books and housewares, mostly kitchen items. There are also large bins in the back of the store full of blankets, pillows and stuffed animals. In addition, there are a handful of furniture items in back: chairs, sofas, desks and bookshelves are most often in the mix.
This store is clean, organized and quiet, with no music piped in. It’s easy to strike up conversations with fellow shoppers or to overhear their conversations. The Carrboro thrift shops can get crowded with people and furniture; by contrast, this Hillsborough store is calm and spacious, with three large dressing rooms to hole up in for as long as needed.
Know before you go
You’ve got to drive to get here, so carpooling and making the most of your trip are advisable.
This store’s selection is so large and so good that shoppers could easily spend 10 minutes in the black-shirt section alone. Unlike the in-town shops, where shoppers can sift through a rack in 20 seconds, the dense rows of clothing in Hillsborough could land someone in the dressing room for 20 minutes.
Each thrift store has its own pricing scheme, so the savvy shopper uses these differences to her advantage.
At the Hillsborough GCF store, all shirts are $3.39 and all dresses are $4.59, except specially marked gowns. This makes dressy shirts a steal and t-shirts more expensive than at Club Nova or PTA, where they can be bought for $1 or $2, respectively.
Dresses, though, are pretty much always a steal at $4.59; they’re up to $8 at PTA. Children’s clothing at the GCF store, at $2.59 for kids and $1.19 for infants, is a bit more expensive than at local stores, but the scope and quality of the selection justify the prices.
“We have a very regular flow of donations, and you never know what treasure you are going to find, so there’s no special time to shop,†Steve Snyderman, a company spokesperson, said. “Every day, there will be something different.â€
Bring cash or local checks numbered over 500. No credit cards are accepted.
Where your dollars go
Whereas the in-town shops are personable, full of noise and chatter, the GCF store is almost eerily quiet and calm. It’s clear that this is part of a bigger enterprise, with a reach broader than Hillsborough.
The GCF store is part of a larger network of stores – 31 in eastern North Carolina – supporting a mission to help people improve the quality of their lives through education and enrichment opportunities.
The primary vehicle for this mission are two websites: GCFlearnfree.org and GCFLatino.org.
“These sites have over 250 videos and over 750 different courses for people to experience online for free,†Snyderman said. “Over one million people have taken a course to completion since this service was launched in 2000.â€
The GCF also supports Boys and Girls Clubs and the Family Support Network in North Carolina.
“Our mission is really to help people improve their lives through life-skills training and enrichment,†Snyderman said.

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