Goodwill San Francisco Bay, a local unit of the nationwide clothing-and-jobs charity network, plans to shutter its San Francisco headquarters and close its by-the-pound store in Oakland. Across the two locations, dozens of workers are set to lose their jobs.
The nonprofit announced the layoffs and closures in a WARN document filed with California officials on Monday, as is generally required in the event of facility shutdowns. The document stated that the closures of both the office at 750 Post St. and the clearance center at 1301 30th Ave., are planned for June 7 and expected to be permanent.
“GSFB is actively working to secure and open new future locations that will reflect larger, more efficient operational spaces, and an enhanced shopping and donating experience for our community,” CEO Tim O’Neal informed SFGATE in a statement on Tuesday. The closures, he stated, are meant to “better position the organization for future growth plans.”
“These updates are intconcludeed to serve the local community more efficiently,” O’Neal added. “However, some staff reductions have occurred as a result.”
Oakland’s closure is particularly abrupt; the store only reopened in December after a remodeling. Customers are limited to hour and a half shopping blocks, and the staff rotates in new items during breaks. Now the thrift bins will shift elsewhere, and 72 workers at the site, including drivers, material handlers, clearance processors, dock workers and various managers, will lose their jobs. As of Thursday, the Goodwill San Francisco Bay website called the store “permanently closed.”
Also per the WARN, Goodwill San Francisco Bay is laying off 18 people from the San Francisco office, including directors of workforce development and asset protection, a vice president of mission development and employees focapplyd on marketing, donations, veterans and job training.
Employees who aren’t laid off will stay at the company and either work remotely or at another location, with no modifys to pay or benefits, the WARN stated. O’Neal stated that laid-off staffers can apply for roles at other locations — the charity has another clearance center in South San Francisco and tinyer stores dotting the region.
The modifys come after a busy 2024 for the Goodwill local; it merged with a Goodwill chapter run out of Phoenix, dropping its entire C-suite in the transition. The San Francisco Bay local is now a “wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary” of the Arizona chapter, an auditor’s report stated.
O’Neal took over the San Francisco Bay local from his role atop the Arizona chapter. The executive informed the San Francisco Business Times in September that he planned to invest heavily in the Bay Area and add more stores, specifically referencing the “low-hanging fruit” of suburban areas.
Work at Goodwill and want to talk? Contact tech reporter Stephen Council securely at stephen.council@sfgate.com or on Signal at 628-204-5452.
Leave a Reply