Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit to open a new upscale retail store in Detroit to support local jobs
9/8/2012
Store revenues will stay in Metro Detroit, support Goodwill Industries programs that help Metro Detroiters earn jobs, with 20 jobs already created
DEARBORN – On Saturday, September 8, a 15,000 square-foot retail space in Dearborn, Mich. will transform a long-vacant storefront into Dearborn’s first “shopping for jobs” experience.
At 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 8, Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit will open its new retail store. Located at 22451 Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, it will be the first resale store operated by Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit in the Dearborn area and the second in Metro Detroit, including the flagship store that opened in Canton in 2010. At the Grand Opening, Goodwill Industries will offer customers the opportunity to win raffle prizes as part of a grand opening celebration.
Proceeds from the store will fund Detroit area Goodwill job training, education and placement programs that help the region’s unemployed overcome employment challenges and earn jobs.
Beginning September 8, the store will open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.
“Customers are going to find great deals on high quality merchandise in a setting that feels more like an upscale department store than a traditional resale shop,” said Jeffrey Ukrainec, director of donated goods of Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit. “Goodwill stores are the only retail locations in Metro Detroit that keep all proceeds right here to help local people earn jobs.”
Twenty Metro Detroit residents, including several Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit program graduates, have been hired to assist customers, process donated items, stock clothing racks and manage operations at the facility. The store also will create training opportunities allowing participants in Goodwill programs to gain real-world experience as they work to earn permanent positions at the store, or with one of Goodwill’s more than 700 partner employers around Southeast Michigan.
Dearborn, Mich. resident Rick Hastie was the first Metro Detroiter to earn a job at a Goodwill retail store. Hastie turned to Goodwill for employment assistance after being laid off from a 12-year career at area steel processing plants tied to the automotive industry. Hastie joined the Goodwill Moving Men and Women to Economic Independence program and worked hard enough to earn a position as assistant manager at the new store in Dearborn.
“I didn’t know where to turn after I lost my job,” Hastie said. “I thought my skills and my experience only applied to the steel industry and almost gave up hope. Goodwill gave me the training and support I needed to earn this new opportunity.”
Customers at the Goodwill Dearborn store will be treated to a shopping experience far exceeding their expectations. Supporting that experience will be the store’s professionally designed interior featuring hardwood floors, fashionable lighting and words and images adorning that walls that tell the story of Goodwill’s mission to fight unemployment in the region. They will also find name-brand merchandise, many with the tags still on, at prices far below retail.
“Our new Dearborn store will continue to support Goodwill’s mission - creating jobs,” said Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit President and CEO Lorna G. Utley. “As we lead the charge to combat the Detroit area’s unemployment crisis, it’s crucial not just to help local people earn jobs, but to create the businesses that will create those jobs. This store provides employment opportunities for Metro Detroiters, and store revenue will fuel training and job placement programs for our friends and neighbors, creating multiple benefits to the community.”
Metro Detroiters who want to donate new or gently used clothing or other items to Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit may drop them off at the store in Dearborn (22451 Michigan Ave.), Canton store (41937 Ford Rd.) or at the organization’s Detroit headquarters (3111 Grand River), Call (313) 964-3900 for more information.
For details on store sales and other events, in addition to information on other Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit programs, visit the organization’s website at http://www.goodwilldetroit.org Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/GoodwillDetroit or on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/GoodwillDet.
About Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit
Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit is the only organization in Southeast Michigan solely dedicated to helping local individuals overcome challenges and secure employment. In just the past two years of the organization’s rich history, Goodwill Industries has placed more than 2,400 Wayne, Oakland and Macomb county individuals into new jobs and provided job training, education and placement services to more than 39,000 individuals in the region. Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit has been helping Metro Detroiters become Trained, Trusted and Ready to Work for more than 90 years. For information, visit http://www.goodwilldetroit.org.