Goodwill of Southern Nevada has officially started construction on one of three new locations to be opened in the Las Vegas Valley. Steve Chartrand, President and CEO of Goodwill, decided to move from Nashville, TN to Las Vegas, NV in 1996 after recognizing the ‘tremendous market potential’ of the Las Vegas Valley. On June 19, 1997, in a shopping center, at the intersection of Nellis Boulevard and Charleston Boulevard, opened the first Goodwill location in Las Vegas. This store was relocated in February of 2013, as part of Goodwill’s five-year plan to double in retail size by 2017. Goodwill, which has grown substantially over the course of its 20 years in Las Vegas, will be able to boast of 18 locations within the Las Vegas Valley after the completion of this construction project.

This new Goodwill location, at 1401 S Boulder Highway, at the intersection of Horizon Drive and Boulder Highway, in the Horizon Town Center Plaza, in Henderson, is estimated to be completed in spring of 2017. The new Goodwill will be a 17,000 SF property, with 11,000 SF dedicated as a sales floor, as well as a two-lane, covered, drive-thru donation center. In addition to the Boulder Highway location, there will also be two more stores opening this summer, along Silverado Ranch Boulevard & Bermuda Road (to be a full-sized retail store with a drive-thru donation center) and Blue Diamond Road & Decatur Boulevard (to be a Goodwill ‘select’ store and donation center). These 2 locations will increase the number of Goodwill’s within the Valley to a total of 20 stores. Future stores will mimic the Goodwill location at American Pacific and Stephanie Street and will feature a covered, two-lane drive-thru donation center.

The Boulder Highway Goodwill location will be able to support approx. 45 new full-time jobs for the Las Vegas Valley. Goodwill is not only interested in providing clothing and products for a reasonable cost but also to provide residents of the Las Vegas Valley with the ability to find full-time work. As of 2015, the Goodwill organization hoped to employ more than 1,000 people. The non-profit helped 2,383 people find full-time jobs, in the last year alone, through their work Career Connections, Goodwill’s primary service engine. A third Career Connections location is scheduled to open on July 1 (through a grant from Workforce Connections), along with the existing locations within the Boulevard Mall and on Cheyenne Avenue at Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Goodwill hopes that with an abundance of drop-off locations around the Las Vegas and Henderson Valley, local residents will have easier access to visit and donate as they would like. According to Chris Matlock, Vice President of Retail & Operations, Goodwill ‘obviously wants to be in a good location that’s good for shoppers’ but also ‘to be in areas that’s good for the donor’. Visit Goodwill’s website, www.goodwill.org, for the location nearest you.