Hands off my Gucci | Bargain hunters flock to designer label sale at Goodwill in Bellevue.

Goodwill's brand, given its long history, often carries a mild connotation of used and dingy. That stigma, though, is patently untrue in Bellevue. "This is not your mother's Goodwill," said Bellevue store manager, Gary Foy. "It looks like a place where people want to shop." Nothing drives that point home more than Goodwill's Bellevue Designer Label Sale, held May 1-2. Brand-name items typically priced upwards of one or two hundred dollars wore refreshing Goodwill price tags: Hugo Boss suits for $30, Coach and Gucci handbags as inexpensive as street-vendor knockoffs, and Seven jeans dropped from $129 to $25. And these deals were the rule, not the exceptions. Along with another Goodwill "fashionista," Foy tries to set the store's prices at "what we would buy [the clothes] for," he said. Customers seemed to agree with the prices; during peak hours, shoppers found themselves elbow to elbow. In the sale's second year, Bellevue Goodwill brought out an expanded sale floor and over 10,000 items, all donated, with which they kept the racks constantly replenished. In addition, the second year brought a much more comprehensive stock. "This year, we have head-to-toe shopping," said Foy, pointing out shoe racks, hat stands, and rows of belts and ties. The idea for the sale, he continued, came from the fact that "we just had so many designer labels." For that, he repeated often, "thank you to our donors!" Both first-time shoppers and regulars were out en masse. Some shoppers were too busy shopping to talk – and who can blame them? – while others expressed an affection for the store and a pleasure with the prices. "I like it here," concluded one regular simply; "the clothes are great, the prices are great," reasoned another. Goodwill's normal operations, though, weren't lost amid the din. Behind and around the majority of the shoppers were a significant number checking out the rest of Goodwill's stock – books, furniture, and vintage clothing – and every now and again, loudspeakers reminded customers that their dollars bought more than clothes; one hundred percent of the proceeds from the event, just as with all of Goodwill's sales, went towards Goodwill's free job training and education programs. Goodwill offers classes such as ESL, computer skills, and so on to teach disadvantaged job hunters basic skills they need in the market. In the North Puget Sound, "we've helped over 4,000 people in the last year," said Foy. Bellevue Goodwill unloaded a significant portion of their designer stock over the course of the two days – figures aren't yet available, but the eye test boded well for the sale's prospects Shoppers who missed the sale needn't fret. Designer labels are scattered throughout Goodwill's racks every day, all year long. Derek Tsang is an intern at the Bellevue Reporter. He attends Interlake High School.