Doughnuts, gift cards and free sodas will highlight grand opening festivities at the new Goodwill Industries-Suncoast superstore behind the Buffalo Ridge Walmart near County Road 466 and U.S. 301.
The $5-million, 26,000-square-foot superstore will hold its grand opening on the weekend of Feb. 28 and March 1.
Store hours will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The store’s address is 11954 County Road 105, Oxford.
Doughnuts will be served to early bird shoppers on Feb. 28 and hourly drawings will be held throughout the weekend for Goodwill gift cards and other prizes.
Everyone who donates at the store’s drive-through lane before 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 28 will receive a ticket for a free soda at the Goodwill “Good Dogs” hot dog cart. The cart provides work experience for people with disabilities as part of the agency’s Life Skills Development program.
The drive-through donation lane replaces an attended donation trailer that was located near the new store site.
The store will employ about 45 people and is the eighth that Goodwill-Suncoast has opened in West Central Florida since 2001. It will offer donated clothing, furniture and household items as well as some new products.
The closest Goodwill stores to The Villages currently are in Ocala and on the east side of Leesburg.
The new store also will be a hub for Goodwill’s child literacy program known as BookWorks, which is expanding into the area. The program features volunteers who read to children from low-income families and give them books.
Retail revenue from its stores supports Goodwill’s human services in 10 counties of West Central Florida such as employment services, training centers for people with disabilities, affordable apartment communities and community corrections programs.
Chris Ward, director of marketing and public relations for Goodwill-Suncoast, said the new store has an art deco design similar to Goodwill’s store in Spring Hill.
“The population and demographics in the surrounding area are at a high enough income level to support donations for a store this size,” she said.
