In Tijuana, Goodwill Has Cachet That’s All Its Own

Maria Gutierrez stopped sweeping her puestocito when she recognized the familiar face coming toward her.

“Buenos dias, Maria,” the man said.

“Lionel!” Gutierrez said, extending her hand. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you.”

It was a rare meeting for people at two ends of a long-standing chain of commerce between Mexico and the United States.

At one end is Lionel Barragan, who operates Goodwill Industries’ giant wholesale lot in Santa Ana. At the other is Gutierrez, who buys used Goodwill items and repairs them for resale at her shop, or puestocito , in Ensenada.

Accompanying Barragan on his trip earlier this summer was George Kessinger, executive director of Goodwill Industries in Orange County. The trip was a first for both Goodwill executives, despite the fact that Barragan was born in Mexico. And more than pleasantries were exchanged.

“We’ve never been down to Mexico to visit the people who buy our goods,” Kessinger said.

For years, Mexican entrepreneurs, or “economic pioneers” as Kessinger calls them, have traveled north to buy used furniture, clothing and appliances from charitable organizations such as Goodwill.

Goodwill takes in about $1.4 million a year from its wholesale business, and much of the goods sold goes straight to Mexico. The revenue, in turn, helps Goodwill continue providing vocational rehabilitation, job training and work experience for disabled people.

It’s all part of the chain.

The vendors in Mexico are, in a sense, Goodwill’s business clients. What they think, how their businesses prosper and what economic influences affect them may well affect Goodwill. At least that was part of the rationale behind the trip as Kessinger and Barragan rummaged through puestocitos at swap meets in Tijuana and Ensenada.

“These vendors help us by buying used clothes, bicycles and other items at our ‘as is’ lot in Santa Ana. We’re indebted, and I think part of this trip had that in mind. We’re here to help them in any way that we can,” Kessinger said.

During the trip, Kessinger and Barragan praised the appearance of some vendors’ stalls and offered sales tips to others.

They took ideas from successful vendors like Tijuana’s Javier Lara, considered Tijuana’s “King of the Comerciantes (merchants)” and shared them with others.

They represent another link in the chain.

Many of the puestocitos are nothing more than 12-by-20-foot stalls. Vendors are able to buy used kitchen dinette sets with six chairs for $30 in the United States and sell them for $60 here. Vendors such as Gutierrez say their customers are unwilling to pay 35,000 pesos, or about $15, for a new blouse or shirt, compared to 1,500 pesos, or 62 cents, for a used one.

“You can buy the same thing, but with a hole in it. You fix it up, and you can still wear it,” Gutierrez said.

Most of the vendors, like Gutierrez and Jesus Vasquez, started small, with dreams of turning hard work into profit.

“We’ve been able to raise our families from the money we make here,” Vasquez said. “We’re not rich, but we’re doing better than some. I’ve been able to buy another van, and my brother-in-law has told me he wants to drive it and get into the same business himself.

“I’m glad that Senor Kessinger and Lionel came to visit us. It gave us a chance to thank them for what they’ve done for us.”

On the trip back across the border, Kessinger and Barragan began mapping out plans. More items are needed down in Ensenada, they agreed. Items such as used mattresses and small household appliances, and even refrigerators and washing machines--items that Goodwill has not concentrated on in the past.

At a recent Goodwill staff meeting, Kessinger suggested that Goodwill re-examine, or “at least explore,” concentrating more on what is needed south of the border.

It had the sound of another link being forged.