Tulsa Adult Rehabilitation Center, Salvation Army

Tour Donation Processing CenterBy Dr. Celia Stall-Meadows

OSU-TulsaJan. 5, 2010

Clothing donations are loaded into wheeled carts (5 long x 3 wide x 5 high)

What happens to donated textiles?

• All beneficiaries (rehabilitation program workers) are part of the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center (SA-ARC). The 40-hour work week in the processing warehouse is part of the 180-day drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. 80-85 men prepare donated items for resale in Tulsa’s three Salvation Army Stores. The men wear donated clothing, too.

• Sales at these stores are the primary source of income for the SA-ARC and pays for the food, clothing, shelter and supplies for the 80-85 residents.

Donated antiques and other items of value

• The SA-ARC has an “antique lady” who extracts and handles all the valuables, but they are also sold in the stores

• Jewelry and other valuables may be under lock and key or in a restricted area of the stores

Sorted clothing, ~100 items per roll rack

Processing• Beneficiaries unload trucks into big blue bins • Female employees are paid an hourly wage for to

sort donated clothing into six price points (2.99, 3.99 9.99). Sorted clothes are tossed into plastic barrels.

• Beneficiaries hang presorted clothing on hangers and hang on roll racks that hold 100 pieces. Each roll rack gets its own price point.

• Beneficiaries staple price on collar of item.• Female employee assigns sorted clothing to one

of the three stores (8-9 roll racks/store per day)

Merchandising in stores

• Each store is stocked with 1,500-2,000 new items everyday

• Blue tag is full price for “new” items during weeks one and two

• After three weeks, it goes to ½ price• After four weeks, it is available at even greater

discounts• Then sent back to processing warehouse for

reconsideration

What happens to items that don’t sell in S.A. stores?

• The items are brought back to the processing warehouse and evaluated. Should it be reprocessed and sent to a different stores? May be sold at the “as is” auction to junk dealers (auction occurs twice weekly for non clothing items—furniture, bric-a-brac, electronics, etc).

• Unsellable apparel is bundled in 1500-1600 lbs bales & sold for 15 cents/lb as “raw” (unsorted) rags to rag dealers from Dallas and K.C. This is called “ragging it out”

Unsold furniture for “as is” auction to junk dealers twice weekly (Mon & Thurs)

Baler: Steel plates from above are lowered to compress clothing

Baler

Baler has a 10-12 feet deep bin in floor of the warehouse that is filled with

unsold clothing

Once full, compactor compresses clothing, leaving another six feet of bin space to fill

One bale of clothing (1500-1600 lbs)

Stacks of bales of unsorted apparel

Bales awaiting rag dealer pick up

What happens to these bales?

• Each bale is valued at approximately $225 (.15 x 1500 lbs)

• Sold to rag dealers• May be shredded and used for stuffing and

padding, such as for caskets, carpet padding• May be transported to a port city and shipped

to textile dealers in foreign countries (an entire study in itself!)

In summary: There is no trash when it comes to clothing and textiles, or any donated items

• Unsalable clothing is baled and sold by the pound

• Comforters and bedspreads are given to the homeless

• Mattresses are cleaned with Steri-Fab (multi purpose) and sealed for a time before reselling

• Furniture is shampooed and vacuumed

• Appliances repaired or sold at “as is auction”

Questions?celia@ostate.edu