Many shoppers are exploring a different avenue this holiday season.

They look to the charity Goodwill Industries of Greater D.C. to find bargains on a wide range of clothes that they would ordinarily pay much more for at department stores.  Goodwill uses the money from the sales to help the disabled find jobs. You can even find deals on Goodwill's ebay store and find fashion advice on Goodwill's fashion blog.

Goodwill is even updating its clothing stores as more and more shoppers crowd them.  Its merchandise includes not only donated second-hand clothes but Goodwill also buys overstocked merchandise and sells it at big discount rates.