By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - After a year absence, they have returned.
The Goodwill Industries store in Niles closed its doors about one year ago, because the store they occupied on Main Street was just too small for them, but on Thursday March 3, at 9 a.m. the doors of their brand new store will open to the public. The new building is located at 918 Silverbrook Avenue.
The new store is quite large, at about 13,000 square feet, it's more than twice the size of the previous 6,000 square foot store.
Another advantage is the drive-up to drop off donated items. One of the main differences from the old store is that the employees have the ability to do processing of the donated items right in the store. "At the previous store, there was no room in the back to do any of the processing, it was all done in South Bend and then shipped to the Niles location," Dawman said.
Another of the differences is that the store will offer more new goods than the previous store was able to. The new things include products such as laundry detergent, electronics, sporting goods, and different household items.
The store is also now doing what is called unit pricing. This is where all the items of similar nature are given a set price. For example women's pants will be between $2-8 and mens shirts will be between $2-6. This will make it easier for both the employees and the customers.
Also, items donated that are what would be considered designer, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and so on will be a bit more than other items.
The store is also open for donations at this time. Donations can either be dropped off directly at the store during business hours, or in the drop box located outside the store when the store is not open.
The store will be having a large grand opening celebration starting with the opening of the store on March 3 and running through Sunday March 6.
There will be grand prize drawing for a new flat screen television, hourly door-prized on Thursday and Friday, managers specials on Sunday, and of course bargains on one-of-a-kind items.