This store is moving to Kennewick’s busiest street for shoppers
Bargain shoppers will soon have a new store to stop at on their trips to Kennewick’s busiest retail area.
Goodwill Industries of the Columbia is swapping its Kennewick Avenue outlet for a new store on Columbia Center Boulevard.
Construction is underway on the $3.1 million store and donation center that promises to increase how much help the nonprofit can offer people struggling to find jobs, said Ken Gosney, the local nonprofit’s CEO.
It’s the culmination of more than two years of planning for the local Goodwill region that stretches from Wenatchee to Walla Walla and down into Hermiston.
Goodwill ended up buying the 2.5-acre vacant lot early in 2018 for $2.2 million after losing out on an earlier chance to buy the parcel, said Gosney.
“It’s going to be awesome,” he said. “It’s been a long process to get where we are with the property. ... It’s been a journey, but it’s been exciting.”
It will be an upgrade from their current location at 2905 W. Kennewick Ave., providing shoppers with a 1,000 more square feet of space and putting the donation center next to the store.
The Kennewick Avenue store was one of last two locations the local territory that the organization leased rather than owned.
That lease ends in August 2019, and they plan to open in the new location the following month. Gosney said it is a tight timeline, but they’re hoping for an easy transition between the outlets.
The company’s studies show the move not only puts the new store in a good location for shopping but it will be less expensive to pay back loans than continuing to rent, he said.
“Goodwills are like any store in that location matters,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of territory assessments to find the right place, and we felt that place was going to work out well. ... When we do a territory assessment, we do it the same way that Walmart, Rite Aid or anybody would do it. They look at demographics. They look at everything before they put a store there. They’re able to dial in how that store will perform before they break ground.”
There are 275 people working in the local Goodwill territory, along with 100 people with disabilities in job training programs. No positions are expected to be cut because of the move.
The improved sales and lower costs will pay for Goodwill’s mission, Gosney said. About 91 cents of every dollar goes to fund programs to help people finding work and keeping it.
They’ve helped recovering drug addicts, the disabled and former inmates. Their employment center has computers and a jobs board along with offering free training programs and counseling once they find work. The company has produced a series of videos detailing their successes.
Through September of this year, Goodwill has helped 571 people in the region find jobs. That’s more than the 552 they helped during all of 2017, according to the company.
The nonprofit also expects to eventually move out of its Dayton Street location in downtown Kennewick, though there are no specific plans. They lease the space from Columbia Industries.