Goodwill Reopens Wrightsboro Road Location After Community Pushback

Goodwill of Middle Georgia & the CSRA reopened its Wrightsboro Road store Thursday morning. The shop had shut down in January with plans to relocate. The nonprofit bought the building and completed renovations after the community demanded the store stay at its original spot.

Residents pushed back through every method available. They wanted the store to remain.

"It was through every avenue that you could imagine. If I or some of our other leadership were on at other locations or at community events, folks came up to us and said, 'Why did you close the Wrightsboro Road store?'" said Leah Pontani, chief missions officer for Goodwill of Middle Georgia, per The Augusta Press. "I think that this was just a really convenient location, and we just kept hearing it repeatedly, 'Please reopen that store.'"

The nonprofit purchased the building after years of renting it. Renovations spanned 10 to 12 weeks. Workers installed energy-efficient lighting and redesigned the sales floor.

Leah Pontani-Small, who also serves as chief mission officer, said the group contacted the property owners once feedback poured in. Buying the building secured a permanent spot at 3362 Wrightsboro Road.

"Over the last couple of weeks while we've been here preparing the store, every single day we've had folks coming and knocking on the door to get inside," Pontani-Small said, according to WRDW. "The number of shoppers that's here right now is a testament to how badly the community wanted us to come back to this location."

Money from the store supports job training programs at schools like Helms College. Most shops operated by the group function as mission centers. These centers fund workforce development programs that help people find work and build skills.