ANDERSON — Jessica Holliday wasn’t a Goodwill shopper until three months ago, but now she visits the resale shop about once a week.

It wasn’t sudden hardship that brought the 21-year-old to Goodwill. She said she just never knew what Goodwill had to offer.

“I realized that it has a lot of the same stuff that the department stores have only at a cheaper price,” Holliday said Wednesday while strolling the aisles of the Anderson Goodwill with her two young sons riding in one of the store’s blue shopping carts.

Like Goodwill stores throughout the region, the Anderson store, located at 4835 S. Scatterfield Road, is experiencing growth both in terms of donations coming in and merchandise going out, team manager Josh McDaniel said.

McDaniel estimated sales were up 6 percent from a year ago, and he said the growth has enabled the store to increase staff from 29 to 44 employees in the past 16 months.

He said part of the rise in business is likely due to shoppers looking to offset a bad economy and rising prices, but the store has always had regular customers who come in nearly daily.

The secret behind the success isn’t lost to Pendleton resident Kelly Reed-Branham.

“You can cut the cost of clothes, furniture, almost anything, in half,” she said while browsing.

She had been to the Greenfield Goodwill earlier in the day and found two brand-new bar stools for less than half the cost she’d seen at Lowe’s. She came to Anderson hoping to find the same deal, but was content enough to come across a used wooden chair for $6. “What do they say? One person’s junk is another person’s treasure.”

Loyal customers like Reed-Branham, who will continue to shop at Goodwill no matter their financial standing or national economic mood, are likely what gives the company a sure footing in unstable times, said Cindy Graham, vice president for marketing for Goodwill of Central Indiana.

Regional same-store sales, a key figure for retailers, are up between 2 and 3 percent overall compared to this time last year, Graham said, and the estimated year-end growth for all stores in the region is 10 percent.

“All other retailers aren’t seeing that, so we’re pleased,” Graham said.

Other discount retailers like Wal-Mart recently reported positive same-store sales for August, but higher-end retailers are struggling through sales slumps. Kohl’s, for example, reported a 5.6 percent dip in same-store sales earlier this month.

As a newcomer to Goodwill, Holliday has had to change her shopping strategy. She said she still buys clothes and household items at Target or Wal-Mart, but she always stops in Goodwill first to see about a better price.

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