GW by Goodwill

Love this place! I don’t always find something but when I do, its awesome. I bought a great coffee maker from here for like $ 10 that works amazingly well and looked new. I’ve also found several cute home décor pieces. They have very high quality home stuff which makes it fun. The store itself is also very easy to navigate and you’ll know pretty quickly if they’ve got something you want or not. I love how easy it is to get in and out and how organized things are! Love!

I didn’t really have a good excuse to come to this side of town until Trader Joe’s opened a few months ago. I had seen GW by Goodwill a few times on the bus heading to The Barton Creek Mall, and of course thought about poking my head in before grocery shopping across the street. Well… I thought I’d finally check it out and write a review of this place, since some of these reviews are ancient (You’re welcome).
I was hoping to find more designer clothes here, considering the neighborhood, but really didn’t see much. I do like the store itself. It’s definitely easier on the eyes than a regular thrift store – with the clean dressing room and dim lighting and all.
The merchandise is definitely «edited,» which makes the shopping process much faster. I saw the occasional cashmere sweater, gently used silk-​cotton blend top, and plenty of cute dresses. They have lots of great blazers and sweaters, as well as gently used high heels if you’re into that sort of thing. Brands? A lot of no-​name, but high quality Made In America garments, and the occasional J Crew sweater or top. Many of the clothes here are probably from Anthropologie, Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, or Banana Republic.
With all that said, I had a handful of garments for the dressing room but very few fit me in the way that I like. I have a long torso and short legs – if you have more normal measurements, you’ll find lots of things. I walked out with a funky faux turquiose necklace and a like-​new Banana Republic, 100% cotton, NOT SEE THROUGH top.
I’d recommend this store to other thrifters, but don’t expect a miracle or anything.

I was kind of disappointed in this place.
It’s a great idea, but needs some fine tuning.
The selection is small, but good. Way easier to find some cute stuff, but the chances of it being in your size is slim.
And I’m not so sure about the prices, I found a dress I liked for $ 12, but it was way too short for me, but if it fit I would’ve gotten it. Then I found a shirt I liked from Forever 21… also for $ 12. C’mon, I don’t even pay $ 12 for a first hand Forever 21 shirt.
I might stop back randomly if I’m trying to kill time, but definitely not one of the better thrifty shops in Austin.

GW is Goodwill’s «boutique» style thrift shop. Thrift by its very definition implies frugality.
The intent here appears to be to bring the finer merchandise together in a boutique setting. Unfortunately, their perception of fine merchandise and pricing miss the mark.
The shop was small, the selection limited (like a boutique); but I found the pricing to be incongruent to the merchandise that they were selling.
The selection was lacking that special designer quality and the pricing was equal or more to what I might buy similar items for NEW or on sale or clearance. Thrift???
I found $ 54 on a very small used Furla bag 6+ seasons old that you could have likely purchased at the outlet or on clearance for the same price, 6 seasons ago. I found pricing of $ 7.99 each on used Riedel Vivant tequila glasses that sold for $ 25 NEW at Target for a set of 4. I purchased the same glasses in NEW packaging at Goodwill a few years ago for $ 9.99.
Let’s remember that it is Goodwill, not Neiman Marcus.
While it is a great concept, it would be even greater if they remembered they are a thrift shop in their pricing.

I bought a Diane von Furstenberg practically new for $ 15. Are you kidding me? Half the time I can pick up treasures for under $ 15. Banana Republic. BCBC. JCrew.
Yes, be ready to dig. Yes, don’t ever expect to find anything to match! BUT don’t ever leave anything behind that you think you may want… it won’t be there later.

I went here while my car was getting a tune up. Super expensive for not so «upscale cloths». I will not be returning.

Is that right? Did I just give a Goodwill a $$$ rating?
If you’re shopping here to flip, you might be able to eek out a profit on a rare piece. If you’re shopping here for yourself, you might have more luck on fleabay. Crazy.
Still a great cause and deserves your support though! Remember, if you buy it and it doesn’t work give it back! They need your donations!

There are all sorts of cute clothes here. Expect to see labels like Gap, Talbot’s, Banana Republic, Harold’s, Loft, Ann Taylor, and so on. Items are sorted by type and color, not by size, so be prepared to dig. Most women’s items are S/​M/​L, with a few XL and very few in P or plus. Lots of cute shoes, but not many in sizes over 10. Sometimes the pricing is wonky — for instance, I saw a Croft and Barrow solid color tee for $ 8 that you can buy at Kohls new for the same price. But there are great deals to be had — most capris are under $ 10, most shirts the same, and they also have some suits for you workplace types.
There are also men’s clothes, some housewares, DVDs, Xbox/​Playstation games, and hardback/​paperback books.

Came here the other day with my friend on one of those «why not» sort of shopping trips. I had passed this place many times and wanted to see what it was about. This is a goodwill store, but is supposedly more of a boutique, or upscale location.
First of all, it smelled pretty good inside. I think there might have been a citrus-​y perfume or glade plugin in the air. Compared to your everyday used-​goods store, this is a big plus.
There was a really fun R&B satellite radio station on the speakers, and I enjoyed that as well.
As to the clothes, definitely a little more upscale and edited than your average Goodwill, and the prices are a little higher to match. Still, compared to retail, the customer is definitely winning here. I managed to find some good teacher clothing from Banana Republic and Moth without much effort.
However, just like a some regular Goodwill stores, the clothing is sorted by color, and not size. This is a big drawback. Because it’s a smaller collection of clothing, and an upscale/​boutique store, I think it would be a better move to not expect the customers to «dig» through the racks, looking for something that might fit. A lot more clothing might be sold if the garments were sorted by size. (My friend that came with me just eventually gave up on looking, because it was too hard to find the right size for her.)
There’s also a decent collection of homewares (complete dish sets!), books, and DVDs. I managed to find a really neat book on the linguistic regions of Texas! Score!

I’m impressed with the cleanliness and look of this store. It is a boutique store and feels like an upscale clothing shop with its dim lighting and smaller space. The clothes are in much better shape and there are many designer labels to chose from. The price of the clothing, while still modest is about 2 or 3 times higher than the normal Goodwill stores. But again, these clothes are in much newer condition than the ones at the normal stores. It’s worth checking out if you’re into designer labels or need casual clothes for a Friday night.

I come here all the time armed with my book wish list. Westlakians frequently buy the latest and greatest at B&N or elsewhere and when they’re done, they bring them here. Their generosity is my SCORE! The last trip I walked away with five books from my list, in great condition and for less than $ 3 each.
Unfortunately this Goodwill bookstore is being turned into a Goodwill Boutique come Spring. On second thought, that could also be to my gain…