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Nonprofit retailer Goodwill enjoyed a record-setting year, according to a Modern Retail report from Julia Waldow, with the company poised for an even more lucrative 2026.
Pulling in a whopping estimated $7 billion in revenue last year -- the "best year" on record for the retailer, which also involved 300 million transactions and $450 million in gross merchandise value -- according to remarks shared with Waldow by COO David Eagles, Goodwill is further poised to have its "biggest year yet" in 2026 as it opens ~100 new locations.
While those store openings will be offset by strategic closures, per Eagles, the majority of these will be large-format stores which emphasize the strong treasure hunt proposition Goodwill currently offers its customers. Regarding those customers, Eagles offered the following evaluation.
“What we’ve observed in some of our data is that, at the top end, people are being really selective. Everywhere else, in most of our segments, value matters more than ever. And because of that, secondhand is one of the fastest-growing places that consumers are going," he began.
"We’ve seen a lot of momentum, both from where we are in the economy, but also, there’s been a multi-year trend where secondhand has moved from being a niche choice to a mainstream choice, especially for younger consumers, which is really exciting," he added.
Other notable excerpts coming from Eagles regarding Goodwill's future:
- Gen Z and millennials returning to thrift: Eagles suggested that secondhand is no longer second-tier product as far as younger consumers are concerned. He cited a stat, saying more than two-thirds of millennials and zoomers purchased at least some secondhand apparel in 2025.
- Donations, transactions, and revenue support the mission: For Eagles, the record transactions and revenue numbers (as well as 120 million donation counts), bolster a bottom-line record margin dollars. "Now, we don’t mean margin in the for-profit sense. Our margin goes to our mission, and that’s supporting 2 million people per year and helping 130,000 or so [people] get placed into sustainable careers," he said.
- Goodwill welcomes all donations: With Waldow intimating that a surplus of donations could flood Goodwill beyond capacity, Eagles shrugged this off, suggesting instead that the company was equipped to repurpose or recycle most donations. "There’s value in moving our goods to different places. Winter coats are needed in certain areas. We’re getting increasingly better with our connected network on those things," he added.
Finally, Eagles pointed toward a developing strategy marked out between Goodwill and brands, producers, and corporate partners -- primarily, those with "issues with return volumes." The COO seemed to imply that these unnamed partners, whether due to a sales strategy on returned product or regulatory pressure surrounding end-of-life product, might turn to Goodwill as a buyer or donation recipient.
"We are in really meaningful conversations with a lot of larger retailers and brands on some of these issues. We’re co-developing some go-to-market strategies, and we’re in an early pilot mode to figure that out," Eagles concluded.