The shelves will to be fully stocked, overflowing with merchandise, and treasure hunters will thumb through thousands of colorful fashions on the silver racks. Beginning at 7:00 A.M. on January 17th, hundreds of customers are expected to fill the stores nearly 10,000 square feet of retail space when Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette (GICW) opens its first store in the Tillamook community.

The facility, located at 2600 N. Main Ave, will employ as many as 25 persons, two-thirds of whom have barriers to employment. The weekend prior and the week of the grand opening, green and blue laser lights will be focused in the skies over the store for a few hours after sunset. During each day of the 4-day grand opening, shoppers have a chance to win one of five $100.00 shopping Goodwill sprees, or one 55 flat screen TV. In addition, the morning of the 17, free coffee will be set up for the earliest shopping enthusiasts.

As with GICWs other 46 stores, the charitys forty-seventh location will be clean, bright, modern and barrier free. When a donation is sold, ninety-four-cents of every dollar provide vocational opportunities including jobs, job training and job-placement services to people with barriers to employment.

Persons in need of employment assistance are encouraged to visit the new stores Job Connection office. In 2011, Goodwills Job Connection staff was able to find community employment for more than 10,000 Northwest OR and Southwest WA residents. Through all of GICWs job programs, nearly 41,000 local individuals were served in 2011.