Linton Goodwill celebrates Grand Opening

Among the people who participated in the ribbon cutting prior to the Grand Opening of the Linton Goodwill: Meredith Osburn, Jathan Wright, Bill Tennis, John Wilkes, Scott Hughes, Kevin Theroff, Kimberly Witvoet, Kanitra McDonald, Belinda Elliotte, Dan Davis, Tess Thompson, Ian Salter, Barbara Bush, Tammy Johnson, Joshua Collins, Selena Jones, Kay Johnson, Leslee Ormanyk, Cathy Crispin, Jane Johnson and Becky Reed.

By Kristen Inman

People in Linton and surrounding areas have been waiting 30 years for a Goodwill store to return to the area. On Thursday, April 26, when Goodwill Valley Goodwill Industries CEO Bill Tennis arrived at the location around 8:30 a.m. for the ribbon cutting scheduled at 10 a.m., he said a line had already begun to form. At one point, the line had to be redirected to move shoppers out of the way of traffic. By the time of the ribbon cutting, the line wrapped around the corner of the building.

Meredith Osburn, Retail Operations Director at WVGI, welcomed the crowd as she stood with ribbon and scissors in-hand, along with Linton city officials, Linton Chamber of Commerce representatives, fellow business owners and Goodwill representatives.

“It’s been a lot of hard work these last few months, but we’re ready to go,” said Osburn. “And we’ve been welcomed with open arms in the Linton community, so we want to thank you, everyone, for your support and... we’re ready to get this party started!”

The ribbon was cut and, following the applause, the line began to migrate into the store. As a component of the grand opening, a table was nearby to enroll shoppers for e-deals via email and distribute raffle tickets for a gift card.

The Linton Goodwill was packed with customers for its opening day. Billy Creech, 21, of Jasonville, was shopping with a relative and helped our vertically-challenged reporter take this ‘aerial’ shot of the store.

By Kristen Inman

Tennis also revealed that the store ran into several snags on its journey to being opened, but was able to hit its intended opening date of April 26. Tennis said while they had the date in mind, they wanted to avoid publicizing it until everyone involved was certain it would be ready.

Osburn, Tennis, Wilkes, Cheryl Hamilton, Tammy Johnson, Linton Goodwill manager Joshua Collins and Becky Reed were just a few of the more than 20 involved in the cutting of the ribbon.

Linton Mayor John Wilkes said he believed the new Goodwill filled a void in the area. The last time a Goodwill was in Linton was from 1965-1985.

“The new store will provide 12-14 more jobs to the area, and those employees will pay taxes, which will then help the community,” said Wilkes.

Wilkes said that Linton is fortunate to have people like the Reeds to help grow the area’s businesses.

“If (Goodwill) needed something, (the Reeds) were the people who got it done,” Wilkes said.

Tennis was equally grateful for the Reeds’ support.

“We spent 33 years re-examining the Linton area and finally, David Reed (owner of Local Business Enterprises) finally made us deal,” said Tennis. “Without his support, this would not have been possible.”

While the area mourned the loss of the Sears store, formerly in the location that Goodwill is now in, the suite in the shopping center was only empty for one month before another business emerged in its place. Now, there is not an empty storefront in the Shopping Center.

The former Sears closed on Dec. 30, 2017. The intent to open a Goodwill location in Linton was announced by WVGI early January and WVGI began taking applications for employees Jan. 15.

“They have been wonderful to work with,” said Becky Reed of working with WVGI. “We are so blessed to have this in our community.”

David Reed agreed with his wife, regretful that he was out of time for the ribbon-cutting but excited about what the future will bring.

“It’s going to help people with barriers to employment in our area find jobs,” said Reed. “Overall, Mr. Tennis and everyone else from Goodwill has been great to work with. I definitely think it will be an asset to our community.”

The Linton Goodwill is now open to shoppers Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 12-6 p.m.