Goodwill store to close for now

Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia has announced the closing of the North Augusta facility but with a promise to open a new one as soon as a suitable location can be found.

The store located at Martintown Plaza on Knox Avenue will shut its doors on Feb. 18.

In anticipation of the closing, a huge sale will begin Jan. 27, which will conclude with a cash-only bag sale on Feb. 18.

James Stiff, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia, explained the local organization is moving on from the North Augusta location. He said Goodwill has been in its North Augusta location since 2000. "The landlord at first was trying to get us to rent more space," said Stiff. But now, the lease is not going to be renewed. In fact, the Lightstone Group of Vauxhaul, New Jersey, asked for an early termination of the lease.

In exchange, Stiff said, "The landlord has agreed to let us leave an 'attended donation center' (ADC) there." He said there will be a manned donation truck or drive-through in the area near Ruby Tuesday every day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The person at the drop-off site will be able to provide charitable donation tax receipts to donors.

The ADC will be in place in Martintown Plaza by the time the Goodwill store closes. "We will have the drop-off station there for up to two years or until we open another location," said Stiff.

And the Goodwill organization has been able to reassign all 15 full-time non-management employees into other stores.

"We've begun the search for a new store and drive-through donation center," said Stiff, who noted the goal is to find a place big enough for the retail store and training center, as well as a place that has a drop-off site that appeals to local donors. "We'd like to have a more visible location ... We want it to be someplace people can navigate into easily ... someplace where people don't feel they're taking their life in their hands when they're dropping off items," he said.

In the future, Stiff said, "Our intent is to reopen here, but most likely it will be after the beginning of our fiscal year in July.

"North Augusta is a very good community to be a part of," he said, adding that in the future there are plans to have more Goodwill missions.

"We're starting a career college," Stiff reported. He said the plan ultimately is to offer certificate, diploma and associate degree programs.

"The first will be in culinary hospitality arts," he said, explained the organization's Helms College began in Macon, and there are plans for the Helms Career Institute at the Goodwill Industries at Fury's Ferry and Washington roads to open in February 2013.

He said the plan locally is to add a similar program in North Augusta. "We're doing a feasibility study now to focus on the areas of need and then to decide what type of business needs to be next door," he said.

North Augusta is part of the Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia, which extends to the Aiken County line.

"Every Goodwill is autonomous," explained Stiff. There are 168 Goodwill organizations in the United States, each with its own board of directors, he said.

In the mid-1990s, Stiff said the CSRA was one of the few areas not served by Goodwill. Stiff asked to extend the Middle Georgia territory to include Columbia; however, the Greenville Goodwill asked to expand to Columbia before the CSRA group could do it.SClBLast year, more than 18,000 donations were made at the Martintown Plaza location.

Stiff said Goodwill's loyal shoppers are being encouraged to visit the other CSRA stores, addresses of which are available on www.goodwillworks.org.

The two closest locations of Goodwill stores in the CSRA are the Goodwill Career Campus in Aiken, located at 1015 Pine Log Road (open M-S, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. and Sunday, noon - 6 p.m.,) and the Augusta Goodwill Career Campus, 3179 Washington Road (open M-S: 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., and Sunday, noon - 6 p.m.).

To learn more about services and individuals served by Goodwill of Middle Georgia and the CSRA, visit www.goodwillworks.org.