San Francisco Mission Street Goodwill set to close after more than 80 years

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - After more than 80 years in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, the Goodwill thrift store is being forced to shut down and finding an affordable location in the Mission may not be so easy.

Goodwill says it doesn’t want to close this popular store at 19th and Mission Street next month, but that it has no choice.

“I’m told they don’t want to continue our lease,” said William Rogers, CEO at Goodwill Industries.
Rogers said he does consider the decision an eviction and that the landlord told him he wants to find another use for the space, perhaps a dental office.

People on budgeted or fixed incomes who depend on Goodwill bargains will soon find its doors shut for good.
One woman, whose main income is her disability checks, has relied on Goodwill for years. She said it was sad and that she would miss it.

Goodwill once owned the building that houses the store, but previous management sold it out and now Goodwill is being forced out.

With rents climbing higher and higher, many have observed the working class and low-income are being forced out of the Mission along with many places that serve them.

Store manager Lynette Fisher received job training from Goodwill, then Goodwill  hired her when she said no one else would, because of her previous legal troubles.

“I came to Goodwill and they opened the doors to me. They gave me skills I needed to reenter the workforce,” Fisher said.

Goodwill hopes to find another storefront in the Mission, but those in charge admit that with skyrocketing rents, it won’t be easy.