Hundreds flock to new Rockford Goodwill store for grand opening
ROCKFORD — Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois held a grand opening event Thursday at its new thrift store at 3068 McFarland Road in Rockford.
The 16,000-sqaure-foot store features a drive-thru donation center and a used bookstore and media center. The facility will be home to some of the nonprofit's programs as well.
The store will provide training and employment for program participants and pay sales taxes to the city of Rockford.
"This store went from vision to reality, and we couldn’t be more proud of everyone who played a role in making this happen,” Ben Bernsten, president of Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois, said in a news release.
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Grand opening celebration events are planned throughout the weekend. Events include gift card giveaways from area businesses, free tote bags to the first 250 customers at checkout, live radio remotes, a scavenger hunt for giveaways, balloons for kids, book readings from local authors, a ‘Chat and Color’ coloring event for adults and kids and a grand prize giveaway of an Oculus Quest 2 all-in-one virtual reality headset.
All of Goodwill's existing stores will remain open, including the Rockford East State and Machesney Park locations.
Corina Curry: ccurry@rrstar.com; @corinacurry
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Hundreds flock to see new Rockford Goodwill store on grand opening day
