RETAIL—Goodwill Getting Wired

Juan Ganoza saw a commercial for Gateway computers on Channel 34 (KMEX) last year and bought one for $1,200. At that price, the truck driver figured the one computer would have to do for the whole family. But on a recent afternoon, Ganoza was back in the market for another computer. Ganoza is one of a growing number of shoppers discovering a pilot store that just opened in Panorama City. The Goodwill Industries of Southern California Computer Clearance Center stocks 4,200 square feet of computers, printers, software and office furniture, mostly used, for a fraction of the cost anywhere else. “I bought the Gateway and it cost me $1,200,” said Ganoza. “This is $160, so it’s a big difference. It’s a good deal.” In the store’s first month, February, sales totaled about $45,000, said David Campbell, director of computer recycling for Goodwill, who set up the store. “We’re averaging pretty decent sales.” The store sells basic word processors for as little as $24, Pentium 3-equipped computers for $600. A comparable model, if new, would go for $1,400 to $1,700. All the computers come with one-year warranties and, because Goodwill is a charitable organization, all sales are tax-free. Goodwill has dabbled in the computer business with outposts for used computers in several of its other stores. But the Panorama City location is the first devoted exclusively to the category. The agency last year realized it was receiving 30,000 to 40,000 pounds of donated computer equipment every week and decided to launch a large-scale program to recycle them. About 20 percent of the donations the agency receives can’t be repaired; they are stripped to their basic components and recycled. The rest are repaired, in many cases with parts salvaged from other computers, and sold. Goodwill has hired about 22 people and trained them to refurbish the computers. “I get beginning technicians and teach a class on modern systems,” said Campbell. “By the time they’re finished, they know more about it than most of the techs that work for Dell.” Just ask Bruce Kim. The South Pasadena resident bought a computer at a computer fair in Pomona. Kim started out with a basic computer he could use to write letters and play games with his daughter. He bought a Goodwill computer, and when he ran into some problems he brought it into the store. “I called them up and they fixed it right away,” Kim said. “So as far as service, you can’t beat it.” Campbell said he prices the computers according to what it costs the agency to repair them and his general knowledge of the market. “What we try to do is give them back out to the public at a little over (our cost) to make a profit to pay for the program,” he said. More recently, the techs have begun building new computers. A 10 GB hard drive with 64 MB RAM, a 15-inch monitor and several software programs installed, including Windows 98, goes for $500. “A lot of people don’t have the money to buy a new system,” said Alejandro Jeronimo, the store supervisor.