ROUZERVILLE—A record crowd turned out Friday morning, Jan. 21, for the grand opening of the new Horizon Goodwill store in Waynesboro Market Place.
“It was the longest line I’ve ever seen at a Goodwill opening,” said Ronald Bowers, chairman of the Horizon Goodwill Inc. board of directors.
The thrift store offers clothing, housewares, electronics, shoes, furniture, bedding, toys and jewelry.
The new store is more than double the size of the previous store just a few storefronts down and has the height of the grocery store and the brightness of the grocery store to make shopping more open and enjoyable.
“We had no place in the Waynesboro store to get things that were donated out of the outside. Our space to process materials was terrible,” Bowers said. “Now we have space to handle it along with truck docks. We were fortunate that this space became available. This is our best store to date.”
HGI operates 18 stores and 20 donation sites in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, with the Waynesboro and Greencastle stores under their umbrella.
But Goodwill is more than just a thrift store.
“When you come into a store and purchase an item, that [purchase price] goes to fund a multitude of programs,” Bowers explained.
Horizon Goodwill’s Career Development Services and Job Training Programs work closely with individuals to help prepare them the workplace and match skills and abilities with community and employer needs, as well as offering post-employment support to assist in maintaining employment and exploring career and personal development opportunities.
“We work with people who have some kind of impairment, mental or physical, or barrier to work and we get them trained and prepared and get them useful work, paying them minimum wage,” Bowers said. “We’ve helped the homeless, those who were formerly incarcerated and recovering addicts to help them find a job when they can’t in many places.”
The Waynesboro Goodwill store is located in Waynesboro Market Place, 111145 Buchanan Trail East in the former Food Lion store. Hours are Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.
