Goodwill store triples space in new location

While she was not one of the customers lined up more than three hours before the grand opening, Margaret Leuteritz (left) was the first paying customer at the new Greencastle Goodwill store at 1021 Indianapolis Rd. Goodwill employees Deann Hayne and Meredith Osburn assisted Leuteritz in her purchase.

Following decades downtown and a week with its doors closed, the Greencastle Goodwill store reopened in a more spacious location on Friday morning.

A line of customers gathered in front of the new 1021 Indianapolis Rd. location -- the earliest arriving at 6:30 a.m. -- for the 10 a.m. ribbon cutting and grand opening.

Excited patrons entered the front doors of the former CVS location to find a 10,000-square-foot facility with an 8,500-square-foot shopping area. All told the new store is three times the size of the former location at 21 N. Indiana St.

"We had a great location downtown," Goodwill Retail Operations Director Meredith Osburn said, "but the parking was the unattractive part."

Parking is no problem in front of the building that once housed CVS, Marsh and one other storefront.

"I don't think the city's seen that many cars in the parking lot for 10 years," Wabash Valley Goodwill Industries Executive Director Bill Tennis said.

Martin's Emporium most recently inhabited the current Goodwill location, but the largest section of the building has been unoccupied since the grocery store's closure in 2006.

The All-American Karate Academy has been in the middle section of the building since 2009.

What customers and donors to the store will find is more space to operate in the new location.

There is room for shopping carts, a bigger boutique section, double the clothing area and at least three times as much space in the wares section.

An even bigger change comes with the new store's furniture section. The downtown location did not have space for a furniture section at all.

The donation area experienced an even bigger transformation. Downtown there was a single walk-in door that opened into a downhill area of an alley.

The new donation area features a garage door, a ramp, good lighting and a camera. Customers need only to back up to the door and ring a bell for assistance in making a donation.

There are also a number of parking spaces behind the building and ample area to turn a vehicle around.

Osburn gave credit to the community for Goodwill's ability to move to the new location.

"We have great community support," Osburn said. "We wouldn't have been able to expand if not for that."