ALBEMARLE — Four months after setting up a temporary donation center, Goodwill Industries will open its Albemarle store in a few weeks.
“Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont is excited to announce that we’re opening a new store in Albemarle,” the nonprofit chain announced in a recent online statement.
Opening on Friday, Feb. 16, at 10 a.m., the store will be located at 850 NC 24-27 Bypass East, Suite 1 in the same shopping center as Belk and Lowe’s.
“This marks our first store in Stanly County and our 35th store in the region! We’re so excited to become part of the Albemarle community,” the statement continued. “We invite you to come to the store on grand opening day to shop and win prizes. We have some fun things in store for you!”
Among the festivities listed in the event’s preview, the first 200 shoppers will receive a free reusable tote bag, and attendees will spin a prize wheel to win Goodwill merchandise and other prizes such as water bottles, pens and sunglasses.
Throughout the grand opening day, Goodwill will distribute and hide golden ticket scratch-off cards ranging in value from $5 to $20 for people to find inside the store.
In January, Goodwill held hiring events at Stanly Community College and at the new store to interview potential employees for various positions.
Goodwill has historically opened mobile donation centers in areas where it plans to open a new store, including here in Albemarle.
The city council approved a special use permit in 4-1 decision back on Oct. 2 allowing Goodwill Industries to set up a temporary donation mobile trailer at the Albemarle Crossing Shopping Center, where construction for the permanent Goodwill store was already underway.
“We are beyond excited to be coming to the city of Albemarle,” Goodwill real estate manager Stephanie Hoffman told the council at the time. “We’ve been trying to get a center here for many years. Now, things have come together so we’re very excited that we found the right property. Dusty Mason, the landlord, has been amazing to work with and we’re super excited about contributing to your community and hiring a lot of folks to work in the store.”
Amy Jordan, vice president of business development and facilities for Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont, told the council that the store had plans of hiring an estimated 25 people who live in Albemarle and the surrounding areas.
“When we open any store, it’s an opportunity for us to get into the community,” Jordan said. “By being a little bit ahead of when we can open our doors, it provides us a runway to get acclimated and to start the process of collecting donations to be able to sell in that store. We will be supplementing donations so that there will be donations coming in from other areas.”
Acceptable donations at the new Goodwill will be clothing, shoes, books, toys, housewares, small household electronics; all items not suitable for use in the store, such as combustible materials, will be properly disposed of through recycling or approved disposal methods.