After being closed for months, Goodwill Central Coast sites ready to reopen

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) -- After months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Goodwill Central Coast is opening its doors across Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo counties.

Goodwill Central Coast Retail and Commerce Vice President, Alan Martinson, says the company was doing well for the first month of closures.

It was in the months afterward that they ultimately had to furlough 80% of their 600 employees.

Now with stores opening back up, Martinson says they were able to bring back the majority of their staff.

But things will be different at Goodwills across the Central Coast as staff have added hand sanitizing stations, social distancing measures and will wear face shields or masks.

Customers will also be asked to wear masks, too.

As far as any concerns of the health officer needing to scale back the reopening process should a second wave of COVID-19 arrive, Martinson says his concern is with his staff members.

"We worry about that every day," says Martinson, "we're okay to close again if we have to, hopefully it wouldn't be for long and doesn't happen but we are prepared to deal with that if we need to."

Current store hours vary by location. Customers are urged to wear masks when entering the business as stated in the health order.

For now, Goodwill Central Coast resale and distribution sites will operate at 50% capacity.