Need some play clothes for the kids or a side table for a spare room?
The new Goodwill store is now open in Champaign. And you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how different this store is from the old one.
First off, it’s much bigger. The new Goodwill is housed in the former Rhodes Furniture building at 912 W. Anthony Drive, west of North Prospect Avenue. The retail space, at about 14,000 square feet, is more than double the size of the old shop on North Prospect.
Second, because it’s much larger, the store now sells furniture, including donated furniture and new furniture, such as couches, tables and lamps.
Because the total space is about 29,000 square feet, the extra space is used as a regional warehouse for Goodwill.
The old store, at 1102 N. Prospect Ave., will remain open and is being billed as a “last-chance outlet.” Here you can buy items, such as a shopping cart full of denim, by the pound.
The store will be open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. The grand opening was Saturday.
Updates on area resale events
– Divine Consign. The women’s resale event, which held its first sale last fall at Stone Creek Golf Club in Urbana, is planning to hold a similar event next month. This time, however, it will be at the Holiday Inn, 1001 Killarney St., U.
The resale event features higher-end women’s clothing and accessories, including purses, shoes and jewelry. The organizers are accepting consignors.
Sellers earn 65 percent of the sales and up to 80 percent if they volunteer their time working at the event. Last fall, there were more than 200 consignors.
To be a consignor, visit http://www.divineconsignsale.com or call 414-213-6557.
At the event, organizers plan to hand out gift bags, which will include coupons to area businesses, such as salons and children’s boutiques, to the first 300 shoppers.
You’ll find clothing, including jackets, for all seasons, and a variety of sizes, from petite to plus and maternity.
The sale will be from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 12; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 13; and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 14. The half-off sale will be that Sunday.
– One Week Boutique. The semiannual children’s resale event this spring will be held in the former Best Buy building at 606 W. Anthony Drive, C (facing Interstate 74) from April 9 to 12.
Because the previous sale was held in a smaller building and at a later date last fall (it was in November in a former grocery store in Mahomet), organizer Donna Pepper said she anticipates this sale will have lots of big items such as ExerSaucers and cribs.
Also because of the larger space available at the coming spring sale, One Week Boutique will accept items for the Mom’s Outlet, a section that is for nonchild furniture such as kitchen tables and chairs and entertainment centers. The sale will not accept items such as antique furniture, sofas, dishes and figurines.
There will also be several tables at which local vendors will market themselves to area parents. Due to online bar coding and tagging, the wait time in checkout lines has been reduced, Pepper said.
“Our economy may be getting better, but people are still watching their money and looking for deals. Our sale benefited from that,” she said.
Consignors can earn 65 percent of their sales or up to 70 percent of their sales if they volunteer during the sale. You can sign up now to be a consignor.
More information is available at http://www.oneweekboutique.com.
Rug sale
The fair-trade boutique Ten Thousand Villages, 105 N. Walnut St., C, will host a fair-trade Oriental rug event from Wednesday, March 10, through Saturday, March 13.
The event will feature heirloom-quality, hand-knotted Oriental rugs made by Pakistani artisans. About 300 rugs, in a variety of designs and sizes, will be for sale. Sizes will range from 2 by 3 feet to 10 x 14 feet, and will also include runners.
An “Introduction to Oriental Rugs” seminar will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 11. Admission is free, but reservations are encouraged. Ten Thousand Villages can be reached at 352-8200.
The store buys rugs from Bunyaad, a fair-trade artisan group in Pakistan. The store has bought rugs from the group since 1984.
What’s a kumquat?
Area Schnucks supermarkets will host “Frieda’s Produce University” in their produce departments this coming Saturday. Produce folks will be on hand from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to offer free samples of winter citrus fruits, such as blood oranges, kumquats and pummelos, and answer any questions shoppers have.
Are you opening a new business or changing an existing one? Christine des Garennes can be reached by phone at 351-5388 or 800-252-3346; by e-mail at [email protected]; or by regular mail at The News-Gazette, c/o It’s Your Business column, P.O. Box 677, Champaign, IL 61824-0677.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services