How Goodwill's New Boutiques Are Dressing Up Secondhand Shopping

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When Macklemore donned a mangy fur coat and strutted over the used sofas in his 2013 "Thrift Shop" video, fans got a good look at the Goodwill Outlet at 1765 Sixth Ave. South in Seattle—a stereotypical realm of fluorescent lights, linoleum floors, and bins of plastic toys. Macklemore’s copious bling and king-sized personality did a lot to make Goodwill shopping look cool, but here’s the twist: Lately, some Goodwill stores are looking pretty cool on their own.

Goodwill is quietly transforming a small but growing number of its stores across the country into boutiques—smaller, more intimate shops where the furniture is antique, the clothing is designer, and the space feels more like Urban Outfitters than a warehouse selling “those moccasins someone else has been walkin’ in,” as Macklemore put it.

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