Goodwill readies flagship store

The grand opening of a thrift store wasn't the sort of thing that made Mark Ihde's pulse race back when he wore a badge, chased bad guys and for eight years as Sonoma County sheriff grappled with the crises and challenges that confront the county's top lawman.

But things change.

Today, nothing's demanding more of the 63-year-old Ihde's attention than preparations for the Dec. 16 opening of one of the largest, most elaborate Goodwill stores in the nation.

Ihde, president/CEO of Goodwill of the Redwood Empire for nearly six years, said while a lagging economy strains many enterprises, "We're kind of an anomaly. We've got more growth than we can handle."

The new Goodwill store is coming together in the Santa Rosa shopping center at Stony Point and Sebastopol roads. The store will take up a share of the massive space once occupied by a Home Base store and a Rite Aid, a space fought over for five years by advocates and critics of a proposal to locate a Wal-Mart there.

One side of the heavily ideological battle praised the jobs, discount shopping and other community assets a Wal-Mart would bring to the city's economically distressed southwest district. The other scorned Wal-Mart for its business and labor practices and criticized the traffic and noise it would generate. Wal-Mart dropped its plan early in 2009.

The Goodwill store will join the other new tenants that recently opened in the space: a Ross Dress for Less, Anna's Linens and Fallas discount clothing store. Goodwill will take up 28,000 square feet.

"It's a huge space for us," Ihde said. "Our typical store footprint is 8,000 to 10,000 square feet."

One of the key Goodwill staffers helping him to expand and upgrade the thrift-store operations is another well-known former public official and Sonoma County community leader.

Mike Runyan once owned three Food 4 Less supermarkets, one of which became the Food Maxx that anchors the Stony Point Road retail center. He served on the Santa Rosa City Council from 1996 through 2000 and suffered a financial reversal when the failure of his and a partner's Skyhawk Village Market forced him into bankruptcy.

Runyan, who's 69 and has worked most of his life in retail, was hired by Ihde as senior manager of the new Goodwill store.

"This is going to be the flagship for us," Runyan said at the store, which is filling with sorted second-hand clothing on new racks.

"We're giving a new face to Goodwill," he said. "It's cleaner and brighter, and we're going to kill you with kindness."

Runyan and Ihde have known each other for decades and playfully joust like brothers.

When the ex-sheriff took the former supermarket executive to a recent meeting of Sonoma County Alliance, Runyan didn't wear one of his trademark Western shirts. Ihde told the crowd that now that Runyan's working for Goodwill, he can afford to upgrade his wardrobe.

Runyan retaliated by telling people before Goodwill's benefit Halloween party that Ihde was coming dressed in drag.

Both are especially excited about two features of the new Stony Point store: a used bookstore and an eBay-like online auction for higher-value items.

The items up for bid will appear on a national website, shopgoodwill.com. The local Goodwill operation has placed items on the site for several years, with good results.

Ihde said something like a good camera might bring $20 in a Goodwill store, but "if you put it online, you might get $300 or $400."

"We had a painting on there a couple of years ago that went for $70,000," he said.

He and Runyan said the bookstore in the new store will be just that — not a haphazard book section but an organized store-within-a-store managed by a former Borders employee.

The Stony Point Road store is the latest and most visible result of the expansion and upgrading that has occurred at Goodwill of the Redwood Empire since Ihde came on. Annual revenue has grown from less than $7 million to about $15 million and the agency's workforce from 140 employees to nearly 300.

Ihde said some aspects of current economic realities are beneficial to Goodwill's mission, which is to collect and resell donated items and use the proceeds to provide job training and paid work to people with disabilities or other obstacles to employment.

"Our service demands have increased dramatically" because so many people have found themselves without work, Ihde said. But other economic factors are making it easier for Goodwill to generate the thrift-store sales that pay for that service.

A decline in rental rates and sales prices for retail property have allowed Goodwill to afford store space previously out of the agency's reach.

"There are landlords who five years ago wouldn't talk to us and who today are calling and telling us they have space," he said.

He also credits Goodwill's success at enhancing its stores as a reason that landlords have a more favorable view.

The local upgrading of the Goodwill brand is evident in the attractive, Southwest-hued store that's called Goodwill on Fourth and occupies the former Hall's trophy and awards shop.

Ihde said it's clear the tough economy is sending more consumers in search of used clothing, homewares, books and such. But he also finds second-hand shopping is a trend that's growing all across the income spectrum.

"There are people who have a lot of money who pride themselves on the bargains they find in a thrift shop," he said.

In 18 days, he and Runyan will open a store they hope will wow consumers of every sort and turn them into thrift-store shoppers, for good.

You can reach Staff Columnist Chris Smith at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.