New Goodwill retail store opens in VW

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Goodwill Easter Seals of Miami Valley officials were on hand Wednesday to officially open their new 11,000-square-foot Goodwill retail facility in the Towne Center retail development.

Local officials, including Van Wert Mayor Jerry Mazur and County Commissioner Thad Lichtensteiger, were also on hand to welcome the new store, which provides retail items as well as jobs for those suffering from disabilities or the effects of poverty.

“We work a lot with people with disabilities, a lot with people in poverty, providing employment opportunities for them,” said Goodwill Easter Seals of Miami Valley President/CEO Lance Detrick. “We would much rather help someone get a job than provide them with a handout — we’re very much a hand up, not a handout, organization.

“Our mission is to empower people with disabilities and other disadvantages … (and) provide employment opportunities,” Detrick added. “We really try to work with a lot of people in the community and be collaborative in our community to help people.”

The Van Wert store is the fourth new store opened this year, with others in Lima, Huber Heights, and Butler Township. Detrick noted following the ribboncutting that Goodwill stores located next to a busy highway, such as the one in Van Wert, do an average of 15-20 percent more business than stores in other locations.

The new store offers good-quality clothing, as well as home décor items, including Christmas decorations.

Mayor Mazur thanked Goodwill Easter Seals officials for building the new facility here in Van Wert.

“I believe this is the nuclei for other stores to come to this area and help us in our growth and economy,” the mayor said. “I congratulate and thank Goodwill for their confidence in Van Wert and I look forward to a great deal of success and I wish them very well.”

The new store will replace Goodwill’s former facility on South Shannon Street.