Goodwill employee Margaret Hebert stood behind waist high bins sorting clothes as members of local chambers of commerce passed by to take a look.

The tour leader, Randy Jones, president/CEO with Goodwill Industries-Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana, noted various areas of the back room area and the inner workings of the newly opened Goodwill store, 4352 FM 365, on Friday.

Jones has high hopes for the thrift store. He hopes to see a lot of donations at the new site which means they can sell more items and in turn hire more people and offer more services, he said.

Jones led the tour group through various areas of the store and stopped by racks of ladies clothing and winter wear where he noted they can’t keep ladies two-piece suits in stock because of the demand.

The new Port Arthur store replaces the much smaller Port Neches that was located on Nall.

“A lot of work went into selecting this site,” Goodwill board member Don Pumphrey said. “Along here we looked at three or four pieces of property.”

Jones said the site is on an acre of land, the store is 11,000 square feet in size and there are 48 parking spaces.

The site also includes a Drop-in Center where patrons can apply for jobs at area businesses, perform a job search, create a resume with assistance of a program specialist, receive help with job interview skills as well as filling out applications for government assistance, Greta Willis, director of mission services, said.

Salimah Golaub, partnership program coordinator, will handle the program.

A few aisles over Martha Rodriguez pushed a shopping cart that held her daughter, Mia, 2, as son Edward, 12, stood nearby. The cart had numerous items of clothing and toys.

“I am enjoying it,” the mother said of her shopping experience at Goodwill. “I love the good prices.”

Goodwill is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

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