The End of An Era

The End of An Era:
My local Goodwill closing. 

In 2005, a not so well known Goodwill store closed on Gerrard. I had been frequenting this store for awhile, the only things I remember buying were a mint set of boxing gloves, a vintage scratch & sniff ginger bread man Christmas card (which I gifted to my ex) & a distasteful serial killer shirt. I hadn't quite gotten into collecting anything retro or vintage at that point, I was shopping for more practical items & at one point, had nowhere to live. Well, Goodwill opened up near the subway station & a tiny little area called St. James Town, - which houses 19 highrises, officially 17,000 (knowing & living in St. James Town, you know it's more) on one (large) city block.

I remember the first time I tried to find it. I was on a date with a sn Italian guy, he had surprised me with white roses under my seat, it was the middle of winter & we went to the beach & were in the parking lot for like two hours (hah). It was Sunday at like 11:00PM & I told him I wanted to go to Goodwill. He heard it moved to Bloor, so he was driving around looking for it. We pinpointed the address, but hadn't expected it to be in the mall with a chain drug store & McDonalds. So kept driving around... clueless. Don't ask me why I thought it would be open Sunday night at 11, I think he only took me to please me. Ya know? Musta been crazy. 

The Goodwill had been good to me in the past. Lately, though, not so much. Like in the last year. Too many people spending their daze there hiding by the door, I guess. Not so much dealers, just hoarders & collectors. At one point I was going there 2x a day when I lived down the street at 666. The same people have been going there for the past 8 years buying buggy loads of garbage (treasures to them, I guess).

They say their lease expired. I reckon they raised the rent & they decided not to renew. Rent is skyrocketing around me. Shops are closing! I guess you can only peddle so many chipped tea pots, old spaghetti jars & overpriced Ikea plates to make a profit.

Anyways, thought it would be fun to look back on my favourite finds from this particular store! 

 This particular Goodwill played a major roll in my life. I have been there with no exaggeration - over 1,000 times. I used to go 7 days a week, sometimes 2x a day 7 days a week. Sure, there is still tons more around, but where else can you see all the local drag queens out of drag trying on the largest bras you've even seen? Guys moving book shelves to get 50% off on that trucker hat on Friday. Anyways, the world moves on..