Residents in the West Hills will soon have another Goodwill Store to check out for affordable clothing, accessories, housewares and other items.
Two months after Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania opened its largest store in the region in Moon Township, officials announced that demolition work has begun on the former Rite Aid store within the Crafton Ingram Shopping Center.
Lauren Brown, Goodwill’s vice president of external relations, said the human services organization hopes to open the new store sometime in August.
Brown said the leased space amounts to 12,320 square feet – the entire footprint of the former Rite Aid store — and the sales floor will be 7,785 square feet. She said the new store would bring with it approximately 30 jobs.
“It’s one of our smaller footprints,” Brown said.
By comparison, the new Moon Township store, which opened in December in a former Big Lots location, features a 17,500-square-foot sales floor. It’s the largest Goodwill Store in the region.
The closest Goodwill stores to the new Crafton Ingram Shopping Center location are in Banksville and Heidelberg, which are 4.7 and 5.4 miles away, respectively.
Brown said Goodwill pursued the vacated Rite Aid location because it “fits our demographic in terms of retail donors – it’s a good demographic to donate quality items.”
In addition, Brown said the new location also is close to the new Goodwill Opportunity Center that opened in October in McKees Rocks.
That center, a partnership between Goodwill and the Allegheny County Housing Authority, was billed as a community hub dedicated to giving residents access to career coaching, workforce training, education and essential support services.
“This fits the model of putting retail locations near where we have mission services as well,” Brown said Goodwill’s decision to open a store in Ingram.
The McKees Rocks Opportunity Center is roughly three miles from the new Goodwill Store.
The new Ingram store will be the 32nd retail thrift store location under the Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania umbrella. Goodwill also has three outlet stores known as The River and two donation express locations. Goodwill also has an e-commerce auction platform known as ShopGoodwill.
Two other Goodwill stores — one in Monroeville and one in Gibsonia — are located in former Rite Aid locations.
Revenue from all Goodwill stores is used to fund job training, education services and other community programs, according to Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s website.
Brown said converting the former Rite Aid location in Ingram to a Goodwill store hasn’t presented any particular challenges so far and in fact the location includes a feature that will come in handy for the new store.
“They have a drive-through spot that we can use as a donation door,” she said.
Brown said Goodwill conducts research to determine the best markets to enter when searching for new locations. Goodwill takes into account other stores in the area and whether certain areas have a propensity to donate.
“We don’t go into it blindly,” she said. “There is market research that tells us if it would be advantageous.”
Opening new stores is important, Brown said, because the additional unrestricted revenue that the stores generate support expanded mission services to serve more people – career development, ESL and GED classes and some disability services.
In addition to finding clothes, accessories and housewares, shoppers will find linens, books, electronics, collectibles and more, both new and used donated items, Brown said.
Neither Sharon Stetz, the mayor of Ingram, nor borough Council President Sam Nucci responded to requests for comment on the new Goodwill location. But a number of people voiced their opinions on social media after word of the new store got out.
“I think having the store in the shopping center is a good thing,” said one person. “At least it’s not a waste of space.”
Another wrote, “Goodwill isn’t my first pick, but thankful to have something close with household items and clothes.”
“I’m actually happy about it,” another woman wrote. Yet another added, “I screamed when I found out it’s for sure. So excited!”
Cody Sheets, who operates a business in the shopping center, said he believes that any occupied storefront is better than a vacant one.
“Goodwill can serve a real need by providing affordable clothing and goods for residents of Crafton and Ingram,” Sheets said.
“My concern, however, is that this type of business may not attract new visitors from outside the area. Over the past two decades, we’ve seen similar retail operations — Fashion Bug, AJ Wright, and Falla’s — come and go. The pattern suggests that simply filling space without broader economic strategy doesn’t produce long-term growth.”
It’s definitely needed in that area!