Dan Smith
Goodwill store on Melrose Avenue at the main campus will become a youth center run by Goodwill.
Goodwill Industries in Roanoke has two fewer retail outlets as June melts into July. The store on Orange Avenue (U.S. 460 east of Roanoke) and the outlet at the main jobs campus on Melrose Avenue are no longer open for business.
Goodwill is looking for drop-off points on Orange Avenue for contributions, but doesn't plan to open another outlet nearby, according to company executives. The store closed, say execs, primarily because of roadwork in the area that has played havoc with its regular customers. The Melrose store, where the company's regional offices are located in an old Kroger store, will become a Goodwill youth center for the Northwest Roanoke area.
There are still plenty of Goodwill outlets in the Roanoke Valley for those wishing to support its stated mission of providing jobs for the handicapped. Goodwill has retail stores in Vinton, Salem (2), Daleville and Roanoke stores on Peters Creek Road, Cave Spring Corners and Hunting Hills.
Goodwill has become a trendy retailer in recent years, drawing customers from every economic group and it is especially popular with college students and teenagers.
About the Writer:
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). His blog, fromtheeditr.com, is widely read and he has authored seven books, including the novel CLOG! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).