The Bon-Ton Stores Spring Sale Brings in Nearly Three Million Pounds of Donations for Goodwill®

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May 13, 2013, 08:00 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The semi-annual Goodwill Sale, a partnership between The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) and Goodwill Industries International, collected 2.6 million pounds of clothing and textiles during its spring promotion. These donations have an estimated value of $11 million in revenue.

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From March 13 – 30, 2013, customers brought donations of used clothing and soft home goods to one of Bon-Ton's 272 stores and furniture galleries. Goodwill sells these donations in its stores to fund job training programs and other community-based services such as financial education, job interview preparation, digital literacy courses and tax preparation in its communities. In exchange for their donations, customers received coupons worth 15 to 25 percent off their Bon-Ton purchases in stores and online.

"As customers cleaned out their homes for the semi-annual Bon-Ton Goodwill Sale, they were rewarded not only with discounts on new spring items, but they helped make a difference in their own communities through the power of their donations," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. "This spring sale empowers customers to support local Goodwill agencies. The revenue from these donations helps Goodwill deliver a diverse portfolio of job training and placement programs to job seekers."

The Bon-Ton Goodwill Sale, which has taken place every year since 1994, is held each spring and fall. The Sale is the largest and longest-standing department store donation drive with Goodwill. Since its inception, the cause-marketing collaboration has generated an estimated potential value of more than $211 million in revenue to support Goodwill's employment services.

About Goodwill Industries International:
Goodwill Industries International is a network of 165 community-based agencies in the United States and Canada with 14 affiliates in 13 other countries. Goodwill is one of the top 25 most inspiring companies. (Forbes 2012). Goodwill agencies are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 2,700 stores and online at shopgoodwill.com. Local Goodwill agencies also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food service preparation, and document imaging and shredding. In 2012, more than six million people in the United States and Canada benefited from Goodwill's career services. Goodwill channels 82 percent of its revenues directly into its programs and services.

To find a Goodwill near you, use the online locator at locator.goodwill.org, or call (800) GOODWILL. Follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillIntl and @GoodwillCapHill, and find us on Facebook: GoodwillIntl.

About The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc.:
The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., with corporate headquarters in York, Pennsylvania and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operates 272 department stores, which includes 11 furniture galleries, in 24 states in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson's, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's and Younkers nameplates. The Stores offer a broad assortment of national and private brand fashion apparel and accessories for women, men and children, as well as cosmetics and home furnishings. http://investors.bonton.com facebook.com/BonTon Twitter: @BonTon

SOURCE Goodwill Industries International