Nearly 260 people stood in frigid temperatures Thursday morning waiting for the opening of the seventh Goodwill store in Clark County.
The first customer got in line at 5 a.m., 13 gallons of free coffee was made available for the masses that wrapped around the store, the doors opened at 7 a.m. and business was brisk, spokeswoman Dale Emanuel said.
It was so busy that senior staff members for Goodwill were brought in to handle the additional cash registers at the store at 14201 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd. in the Orchards area.
That flurry reflects business as usual for a Goodwill store opening, an event the nonprofit extends to four days when introducing a new location, Emanuel said.
She said the company anticipates large crowds at openings.
“The best items we have to offer,” she said, “we save them for grand openings because we’re really grateful for (customers) to be there.” Depleted stock is replenished each evening with grand opening-worthy merchandise, she said.
Before the opening of the Orchards store, sales at Clark County’s six existing stores was up 5 percent over last year, Emanuel said.
The latest location was chosen in part because of nearby housing density. Typically, the organization prefers to place a new store in an area with about 43,000 households within a 10 minute drive to the store, Emanuel said.
The opening event hours have been extended: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Afterward, the hours will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
The recently built Orchards store has 10,500 square feet of retail space and 25,000 total square feet. There are 40 employees.
The new facility has a Job Connection office open five days a week providing job leads, computer access, professional résumé creation and interview skills training. Last year alone, Job Connection provided free job support to more than 3,100 individuals in Clark County.
In 2017, more than 542,000 Clark County Goodwill donors brought the nonprofit more than 33,000,000 pounds of donations. The Orchards-area store will have a covered drive-up donation area. Revenues from the sale of donations allow the nonprofit to offer free community English classes, computer skills classes and job services helping community members find work.
