Montrose will soon be the home of a new Goodwill retail store and donation center.
Goodwill of Colorado plans to open a 13,000 square-foot retail store and donation center in the first quarter of 2025.
The store will be located at 1601 Oxbow Drive, Ste. 320, the former home of Joann Fabrics; and the nonprofit organization plans to spend about $550,000 remodeling the space.
Stephanie Bell, Brand & Buzz Manager for Goodwill of Colorado, said the Montrose community made sense when looking where to open a new retail thrift store.
“We’re so grateful to be joining the Montrose community. We’ve had a lot of meetings with community leaders, with the county, with the health care system, to identify ways that we can collaborate and add value to the community – to fill gaps where there might be services the community could benefit from and where we might have expertise to be able to offer that,” she said. “That portion of the state is an area of opportunity in terms of providing a great thrifting and donation location for folks in the community. We went in and looked at where we might fill a need in a community.”
Goodwill retail stores provide a variety of merchandising, from furniture, entertainment and toys to clothes and shoes.
“We want to provide a place where people can donate their gently used items they no longer need,” Bell said.
The new store will provide 35-40 new jobs, which go to people of all different levels of ability.
Bell boasted about the shopping experience at Goodwill and what they look to bring to Montrose.
“We’ve got incredible variety at all different price points for folks, no matter what they’re looking for,” she said. “It’s a wonderful and sustainable way to shop, where you’re keeping things in a circular economy, and that’s something that we’re seeing more and more emphasis in the public dialogue.”
Goodwill of Colorado determined it last year was able to divert more than 200 million pounds of donated items out of Colorado landfills.
They do that by providing a space where communities can buy and donate used items.
In addition to the store, Goodwill of Colorado looks to provide services in communities that may be underserved. An example of that is their AgrAbility Project, which partners with the Colorado State University Extension.
The program is funded in part by a grant from the U.S Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), which provides education, and services to farmers, ranchers, agricultural workers and their families with physical challenges, limitations, or disabilities.
The project has served 24 individuals and families in Montrose, Delta and Mesa Counties during the past five years.
They plan to continue that program that as they open this new store in Montrose.
The new store is in the early stages of remodeling the space in the Oxbow Shopping Center.
“We are on track to open in Quarter 1 of 2025,” Bell said.
Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.