The doors to the newest Goodwill store in Boardman opened at 9am on Thursday, August 9 to 109 anxious customers. Several waited over an hour in line to be amongst the first to shop the store, one individual was even waiting when store personnel arrived in the morning. “It was great to see such excitement and enthusiasm in the Boardman community,” says David Ivko, retail director.

Over 250 customers came through the doors in the first hour. By the end of the first day of the grand opening, there were 658 customers who made purchases at the store, totaling over $9,000 in sales.

The total number of customers for the entire three-day grand opening celebration was 1,414 bringing in nearly $18,000 in sales. The three-day grand opening event was the most successful Goodwill store opening, breaking the previous three-day grand opening sales record held by the Calcutta store by over $5,000.

In addition to the store opening, the donation center in the rear of the plaza was also open for business. The donation center saw 140 donors in the first three days.

Several organizations made contributions to help with the opening of the Boardman store. The Kennedy Foundation, a component of the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, provided a $10,000 grant that was used towards the opening of the store. The Gasser Chair Company provided the beautiful chairs that can be seen in the front lounge area of the store, and Nemenz Boardman IGA store provided a sheet cake for customers to enjoy during the grand opening celebration.

The Boardman store is the eighth retail store operated by Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries, joining the Liberty, Struthers, Warren, Calcutta, Salem, Hermitage and New Castle stores. The store is located in the Boardman Plaza on the corner of Boardman-Canfield Road and Glenwood Avenue.

The Boardman store will offer the same great sales and discounts that can be found at the seven other area Goodwill stores, such as Wednesday and Thursday dollar tag sales and the 50% off sale the last Friday and Saturday of every month.

Store and donation center hours are Monday-Saturday from 10am-8pm, and Sunday noon-5pm.

In addition to creating 15 jobs in the community, all revenues generated from the local Goodwill stores stay in the Youngstown area to provide job training and employment services to people with disabilities or other barriers to employment. The generous donations made by the community at Goodwill’s attended collection centers allow Goodwill to operate their stores and provide jobs to nearly 300 people.