Spokane-based Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest says it has bought the former Cascade Seed warehouse, east of downtown, and plans to use most of the space to accommodate new operations that will reduce waste from regional Goodwill stores.

Clark Brekke, president and CEO of the nonprofit here, says Goodwill plans to open an outlet store and salvage operation in the 101,000-square-foot building at 1406 E. Front.

Goodwill bought the warehouse structure in December for $2.5 million, Spokane County Assessor's Office records show. It plans to invest another $1.75 million in renovations and equipment, Brekke says.

Plans for the renovations are in the permitting stage with the City of Spokane. Baker Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project, which is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 1.

The outlet store will occupy 10,000 square feet of floor space, and the salvage operation will occupy 54,000 square feet of floor space, Brekke says. Sky High Sports Spokane LLC, which has occupied 37,000 square feet of space in the building for two years, will continue to lease space there, he says.

Brekke says Goodwill aims to reduce refuse to below 10 percent of total pounds of donations received. Currently, 27 percent of donations by weight don't sell through its retail stores and bulk vendors.

"The ultimate goal is to move toward a zero-waste process, eliminating the volume and toxicity of waste and materials by recovering resources, not burning or burying them," he says.

The Goodwill network here collected 19.8 million pounds of donated items in 2012 and sold 3.5 million pounds of goods through its retail and online stores. Salvage vendors bought 11 million pounds of donated items in bulk, and Goodwill disposed of 5.4 million pounds of items and materials it couldn't sell, Brekke says.

Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest is an independent community-based agency of Rockville, Md.-based Goodwill Industries International.

Headquartered east of downtown at 103 E. Third, Goodwill operates 11 retail thrift stores in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. It also has an online auction and retail store. Revenues from the stores fund Goodwill's job training, employment placement services, and other community-based programs benefitting people facing employment challenges.

In Goodwill's regular stores, items are individually priced and bar-coded using a modern point-ofsale system, Brekke says.

Items that don't sell at Goodwill's retail stores will be offered by the pound at the new outlet store, which will be open to the public seven days a week, he says.

At the outlet store, items will be rolled out by the tableful, and those that remain unsold for more than just a few hours will be processed in the salvage area of the building and sold in bulk to various salvage vendors, who handle them as recyclable commodities or for resale overseas.

"The product is ultimately receiving a further useful propose through (reuse) or retail value," Brekke says.

Goodwill plans to buy and install new bailers and crushers to process materials, including textiles, plastics, and metals, in bulk volumes.

"We plan to partner with other vendors that purchase other types of commodities," he says.

The outlet store and salvage operation will employ 22 full-time equivalent employees, and offer eight paid training positions, Brekke says.

Regionwide, Goodwill of the Inland Northwest has 446 full-time equivalent employees.

In 2012, Goodwill here also generated 60,000 paid training hours, providing services to a total of 6,520 people, he says.