Shoppers should notice a refreshing change next time they step foot into the Goodwill store in Cornelia. On Friday, March 1, the store celebrated its grand re-opening after months of internal renovations.
The team at Goodwill North Georgia has been working to renovate many of its locations including Oakwood, Buford, Hamilton Mill, and Piedmont to revamp the shopping, donating, and working experience for everyone who supports the nonprofit.
The Cornelia store and donation center, located at 308 Habersham Hills Cir, Cornelia, Georgia, opened its doors in 2015. Since that time, it has been serving Habersham and surrounding areas as a place to shop and donate gently used clothes, furniture, books, and technology.
Newly renovated store
The updated store has new wall graphics, freshly painted walls, new flooring, and energy-saving LED lighting. “It was very exciting to us to lose that Goodwill orange!” Sarah Thompson, Manager of Cornelia Goodwill Store, laughed about the prior colors of the store.
Goodwill has added a new goods section dedicated to newly packaged goods such as snacks and drinks. This section is one shoppers will want to check out because it is constantly changing with new, special-value items.
Refresh, Reset, Refocus
“The entire store received renovations. Not only the sales floor,” says Thompson. “The purpose of the remodel is to allow the entire business to Refresh, Reset, and Refocus. This is a very special event for Cornelia’s management team.”
This is the second Grand Opening for Cornelia Goodwill. Thompson said they began serving the community of Habersham on September 24, 2015, and thanks to the generosity and continued support of the guests and donors, on March 1, 2024, they were able to re-open again.
But it wasn’t just about a new look, Thompson explained, “This allows our team to refocus on training and on our brand and how we present our product. It’s not always easy to present donated items. There is a little more work involved because we don’t receive items clean from a warehouse.”
Great place to work
Melodie James began working with Goodwill from the beginning. She works closely with Sarah Thompson as an Assistant Manager. James said she likes working with Goodwill because she believes in the mission. Her favorite part of work is the “Treasure Hunt”. “I love going through the donations and putting them out for our customers.”
Last year, Goodwill successfully renovated several other stores, including Cobb Parkway, Covington, Fayetteville, Hickory Flat, Northside, Jonesboro, Douglasville, Conyers, and Powder Springs, and plans to continue refreshing other locations in the coming months.
Career Center
When you shop at Goodwill, you’re supporting the nonprofit’s mission to Put People to Work. When items are sold in stores or online, those profits are used to fund skills training programs and job placement services. In fiscal year 2023, Goodwill of North Georgia was recognized as the number one Goodwill in the nation when it comes to people employed, helping more than 22,000 North Georgians get connected with jobs.
Through the career centers and training programs, Goodwill serves veterans, people with disabilities, youth, single parents, the under-employed, people with criminal backgrounds, and anyone else looking for work.
“We help people in the community to find any type of employment. There are training programs for small businesses, learning about financing, putting together a resume, technical lab building, and work release for inmates. Our profits from this store go to fund that,” Thompson added.
To learn more about Goodwill of North Georgia’s career services and job training programs, please visit www.goodwillng.org.
