More space, parking and job training opportunities for individuals with disabilities are a few things Goodwill Industries of the Columbia hopes to offer by moving its Kennewick thrift store this spring.

The Goodwill store at 104 Vista Way will move to the Kennewick Plaza on the corner of Kennewick Avenue and Highway 395, just a few doors down from Safeway.

Scott Shinsato, the nonprofit's assistant executive director, said the goal is to open by Feb. 1 after some improvements are made to the new store, which will be almost three times larger at 14,000 square feet.

"I think we can deliver just a much better thrift shopping environment than what you can find in our old location," he said.

The renovations to the shell building at Kennewick Plaza will include adding some walls and flooring as well as other interior improvements, Shinsato said. The project is estimated to cost about $100,000.

The retail space will increase from about 3,100 square feet to between 8,000 and 9,000 square feet.

Growth of the store no longer will be limited by parking, like it is at the Vista Way location, which Goodwill has leased for the past 18 years, Shinsato said.

The new store also will have more room to sort donations, he said. Right now, some donations sorted at the Pasco Goodwill are then sold in Kennewick.

Goodwill will open a donation center at the Kennewick Plaza soon, Shinsato said.

The new location also will be able to provide more opportunities for job training for individuals with disabilities, he said.

It is one way that Goodwill is trying to grow its business so that it can better fulfill its mission of helping people get jobs, Shinsato said.