Goodwill Store Celebrates Grand Opening With 'American Pickers' Star

More than 200 diehard American Pickers fans turned out Saturday afternoon at the grand opening of the new  at 8615 Woodward Avenue to meet their favorite "picker," Mike Wolfe.  

The line to meet Wolfe inside the store snaked throughout the aisles and rows of new and gently-used clothing, kitchenware, books, toys, housewares and furniture.

Linda Hampton arrived at the store at 11:30 a.m. to secure the second spot in line to meet Wolfe for his 1:30 p.m. appearance.

"I love Michael Wolfe and have been watching his show forever,"  Hampton said. "I can't wait to meet him!"

Jared Coan, 23, of Montgomery, arrived too late to get a ticket to meet Wolfe, but stuck around to get pictures.

"American Pickers is a very interesting show and Mike Wolfe got me into going to garage sales and collecting antiques," Coan said.

"I collect antique scales -- baby scales, postal scales, kitchen scales. I saw my first scale at an antique store and thought that would be a really cool thing to collect. I now have about 35 scales and my favorite is a postage scale from 1889."

Mike Wolfe grew up in the Chicago area, where his grandfather tore down homes in the city and would salvage door knobs, handles and other items left behind. Wolfe credits his grandfather for getting him involved in looking for treasures, and "picking."

"What Goodwill has done for local communities and nationwide is amazing," Wolfe told the crowd Saturday. "Today, people use buzz words like re-purposing, recycling and green but, if you think about it, Goodwill has always had that attitude ... it's their lifestyle and their history.

"The money they raise goes to people who are less fortunate. When you buy something here it makes you think about doing something for your community. We can all pick in here and enjoy ourselves but you can really enjoy yourself more when you realize where the money goes."

Why did Goodwill select Woodridge has home for its latest store?

"What is important to us is donations, so we try and pick sites where we know our stores will be amply supplied with quality donations," said Pat Bolter, vice president of marketing for Goodwill Industries.

"We are always looking for gently used clothing and household items. If we have quality merchandise in the store, people will come. In [the] economic times we're living in, more and more people are looking to stretch their dollars. Our stores provide an opportunity for people to make the most of every dollar they earn."

According to Bolter, Goodwill also receives corporate donations and purchases new items at a discounted rate. About 20 percent of merchandise in the stores is new. The rest is donated.

The Woodridge location offers a convenient drive-thru where people can drop off their donations. Goodwill staff members will help unload items and give a receipt.

The merchandise almost immediately makes its way to the sales floor.

"Shopping at our store is thrill shopping; you never know what you are going to find," Bolter said. "It's a very dynamic inventory that can change every 15 minutes."