Shopping for School Clothes Doesn't Have to Be Expensive

With all the cost involved in getting your student back into the classroom, a lot of folks have found a way to cut corners.

Goodwill Store & Donation Center, 441 E. Lincoln Highway, opened its doors in March 210 and has been saving families money on clothes, books, household supplies and more ever since. Assistant Store Manager Marie McClintock said traffic has been steady for the past several weeks. People come in to look for jeans, sweatshirts and tops. The pricing is consistent—$2.99 or $3.99 and jeans as low as $4.99. That's a lot of savings when compared to the prices for new items at Target or Walmart.

Yes, the clothes are gently used, she said, but the people from New Lenox and the surrounding communities in the Lincoln-Way area have been good to the store. They donate clothes and other items with a good deal of life left in them. People get them as gifts and the child hardly has time to wear them more than once or twice before they outgrow it.

"They're in good shape," she said.

People in these communities really do benefit from these regular donations, she said. It's much more affordable to shop at Goodwill when the budget is tight, she added. Children's clothes are what move the fastest. People get them as gifts and the child hardly has time to wear them more than once or twice before they outgrow it.

One shopper, Kristin Roberts of New Lenox, shops regularly at Goodwill. A young mother with two children, she said it makes sense to shop here. "We get designer clothes real cheap here. And it's cool to be vintage," a point that makes the experience positive for her two girls.

"For basics,—jeans, tank tops—it's a great place to come," according to Roberts. Trendy items such as skirts and dresses fill the racks. These go in and out of style fast, so it makes sense, said Roberts, to buy them for less. The racks are filled and they change out consistently, so the selection is decent. "I won't buy faded clothes. A lot of the clothes still have the original tags on them. They've never been worn."

New Lenox's Sharon DeFalco shops Goodwill regularly for her grandchildren. "I get jeans, sweatshirts and long sleeve shirts" for the kids. "I love coming here. It's the thrill of the hunt," she said.

The store also stocks a ready supply of baby cribs, linens and household items.

For those whose budgets are so restricted that they can't afford the discounted clothes either, McClintock said Goodwill has a voucher program. The store gives $4,000 worth of vouchers away each month. The vouchers are distributed to Trinity Services for people with disabilities and Family Services at New Lenox Township.     

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