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Charity Store To Be Built

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: October 22, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Goodwill Industries Inc. plans to build a retail store on State Road 56 just east of Interstate 75.

Goodwill is negotiating a deal to purchase four acres at Willow Oak Drive and Cypress Ridge Boulevard for its newest 25,000-square-foot retail store.

Goodwill has closed some underperforming stores as it opens its larger outlets, spokeswoman Michael Ann Harvey.

It's unclear if the group's current store in Land O' Lakes' Village Lakes Shopping Center will stay open after the new store opens next fall.

"That store is very successful," said Harvey of the Village Lakes store. Goodwill's St. Petersburg office oversees the nonprofit organization's work in 10 counties from Ocala to Sebring.

The new store will have a drive-up donations window as well as larger outside bins where donations can be made, according to plans now under review.

Goodwill is the second charity to plan a retail store in Wesley Chapel. The Salvation Army is building a controversial store on County Road 54 across from the Lexington Oaks subdivision.

At the time it was proposed, the Salvation Army store drew an angry response from area residents who worried it would attract crime and other problems to the area.

Harvey said Goodwill is seeking suburban shoppers. Its retail store in Brandon is the biggest seller east of the Mississippi River, she said.

"This isn't your grandmother's Goodwill," Harvey said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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