Goodwill 'superstore' to open
CRANBERRY TWP — Officials say the new Goodwill “superstore” under construction on Freedom Road is set to open in April.
Representatives of developer Neyer and Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania on Monday afternoon held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site, where construction started in September.
Goodwill, which has a store on Route 19 in the township, plans to keep both stores open until the end of 2017 and will make a decision from there about whether or not the community could use two stores.
The development plans were approved by the township supervisors in July.
The Route 19 location has been one of the top stores in the region, seeing large numbers of donations and sales. That store, which is leased, also struggles with not enough parking and a donation drop-off area that can be difficult to negotiate.
“This is kind of a superstore because of the Cranberry market,” said Mike Smith, president and CEO of Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“Cranberry is such a growing community and the success of any of our stores is based on a strong donation base,” he said.
The store, located near the intersection of Freedom Road and Thorn Hill Road, will be 24,000 square feet. The 13,000-square-foot sales floor area will be larger than the entire Route 19 store.
Each Goodwill store exclusively sells items that were donated at that location. The new store will have a two-lane donation drop-off area and a much larger donation-processing area, Smith said.
The building also will include offices where area residents can access human services that the nonprofit organization provides. This includes workforce development available to veterans, ex-convicts and others.
“There is a need everywhere. We work with the general population, but our focus is on folks with barriers to employment,” Smith said.
People seeking services will be able to walk in or make an appointment.
The store will employ 40 to 50 people and will have a parking lot with 100 spaces.
To learn more about Goodwill, visit www.goodwillswpa.org.
