Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

San Ysidro swap meet replaced with Goodwill

"Oh yes, we all know it will close at the end of the year."

Goodwill Enterprises purchased two buildings — about 76,000 square feet of space under 23-foot ceilings on four acres.
Goodwill Enterprises purchased two buildings — about 76,000 square feet of space under 23-foot ceilings on four acres.

Colorful displays of toddler clothes and princess backpacks line the remaining vendadoras' (saleswomen's) stalls inside the huge buildings that house San Ysidro's only indoor swap meet. Almost half of the stalls are empty, but those that remain are still selling men's and women's clothing and footwear alongside children's clothing and toys at reasonable prices.

But the vendadoras know that change is coming to the swap-meet buildings on Calle Segundo, a short dead-end street off Calle Primero, a half-mile-long rambling road parallel to Interstate 5 just northwest of the San Ysidro Boulevard exit.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Oh yes, we all know it will close at the end of the year," says Leticia Robledo, who leases a large space in the southern building. "I don't know what I will do after that, but the Lord provides."

Goodwill Enterprises purchased the two buildings — with about 76,000 square feet of space under 23-foot ceilings on four acres — in May. 

"Maybe I can get a job from them," Robledo says. "I've been working here for 30 years already."

Robledo isn't the only saleswoman who has been working out of the swap-meet building for a long time. Shopkeepers at several other stalls said they've been at the site for 15 to 20 years. None of the people I talked with had plans for what they will do next, and none had hard feelings toward either Goodwill or the former owner, Herb Barrack. (Calls to Barrack at home and at the swap-meet office — as well as those to Joe Garcia, who established the swap meet — were not returned.)

The buildings are in a relatively isolated location, on the north end of Calle Primera. The street dead-ends about 400 yards northwest of Via Segundo.

"It's a problem that there's very limited access on a road that's heavily trafficked," says Michael Freeman, chairman of the San Ysidro Planning Group. "The community plan had a road connecting it to Camino de la Plaza, but we learned it would go through sensitive habitat, and we've been negotiating with the California Coastal Commission ever since."

Goodwill already has a retail store on Front Street, east of the 805/5 merge. The charity plans to move its retail and outlet stores to the swap-meet buildings and set up a job center at the Front Street location, according to Goodwill spokeswoman Darlene Cossio. The retail store and outlet store will each have their own building on Calle Segundo.

The nonprofit, which funnels 98 percent of its revenues to programs already has employment centers in Vista, Point Loma, Chula Vista, and Escondido, Cossio said. 

"The job search can be very intimidating; creating a résumé can be very intimidating," Cossio said. "We customize our program to meet your needs and you will be assigned a job coach right away."

That coach works on shaping up a résumé and practicing the interview, among other things. People can enroll in computer classes, communications classes, and conflict-management classes.

Of the county's 1300 Goodwill employees, almost 47 percent are disabled or had another barrier to finding jobs.  

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Digital Currency Wave Hits the Shores of San Diego

Next Article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?
Goodwill Enterprises purchased two buildings — about 76,000 square feet of space under 23-foot ceilings on four acres.
Goodwill Enterprises purchased two buildings — about 76,000 square feet of space under 23-foot ceilings on four acres.

Colorful displays of toddler clothes and princess backpacks line the remaining vendadoras' (saleswomen's) stalls inside the huge buildings that house San Ysidro's only indoor swap meet. Almost half of the stalls are empty, but those that remain are still selling men's and women's clothing and footwear alongside children's clothing and toys at reasonable prices.

But the vendadoras know that change is coming to the swap-meet buildings on Calle Segundo, a short dead-end street off Calle Primero, a half-mile-long rambling road parallel to Interstate 5 just northwest of the San Ysidro Boulevard exit.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Oh yes, we all know it will close at the end of the year," says Leticia Robledo, who leases a large space in the southern building. "I don't know what I will do after that, but the Lord provides."

Goodwill Enterprises purchased the two buildings — with about 76,000 square feet of space under 23-foot ceilings on four acres — in May. 

"Maybe I can get a job from them," Robledo says. "I've been working here for 30 years already."

Robledo isn't the only saleswoman who has been working out of the swap-meet building for a long time. Shopkeepers at several other stalls said they've been at the site for 15 to 20 years. None of the people I talked with had plans for what they will do next, and none had hard feelings toward either Goodwill or the former owner, Herb Barrack. (Calls to Barrack at home and at the swap-meet office — as well as those to Joe Garcia, who established the swap meet — were not returned.)

The buildings are in a relatively isolated location, on the north end of Calle Primera. The street dead-ends about 400 yards northwest of Via Segundo.

"It's a problem that there's very limited access on a road that's heavily trafficked," says Michael Freeman, chairman of the San Ysidro Planning Group. "The community plan had a road connecting it to Camino de la Plaza, but we learned it would go through sensitive habitat, and we've been negotiating with the California Coastal Commission ever since."

Goodwill already has a retail store on Front Street, east of the 805/5 merge. The charity plans to move its retail and outlet stores to the swap-meet buildings and set up a job center at the Front Street location, according to Goodwill spokeswoman Darlene Cossio. The retail store and outlet store will each have their own building on Calle Segundo.

The nonprofit, which funnels 98 percent of its revenues to programs already has employment centers in Vista, Point Loma, Chula Vista, and Escondido, Cossio said. 

"The job search can be very intimidating; creating a résumé can be very intimidating," Cossio said. "We customize our program to meet your needs and you will be assigned a job coach right away."

That coach works on shaping up a résumé and practicing the interview, among other things. People can enroll in computer classes, communications classes, and conflict-management classes.

Of the county's 1300 Goodwill employees, almost 47 percent are disabled or had another barrier to finding jobs.  

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Dating Sites For Little People: Best Platforms & Tips

Next Article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.