Goodwill finds new home in Cheswick, remade into 'next generation' prototype
The first new tenant in the redeveloped Cheswick Shopping Center will be well known to residents and shoppers.
Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania plans to open a new store in the shopping center on Oct. 1. It is moving from a location just across the parking lot, from 1210 Pittsburgh St. to 1306 Pittsburgh St.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony with Goodwill representatives and community leaders is scheduled for 9 a.m. Oct. 1. Festivities will include raffles and free refreshments throughout the day.
The old store will be open until 5 p.m. Saturday. The store was scheduled to close the day before the new store's opening, but a sale with increasing discounts is quickly clearing it out, Goodwill spokesman David Tobiczyk said on Tuesday.
Fred Panza, owner of Panwick Enterprises, said his company is working to get a new retail tenant in the soon-to-be former Goodwill store location.
“Right now, we don't have anything firm on it,” Panza said. “We've had a few people look at it.”
The new Goodwill store will be located in the plaza in the space previously occupied by an auction house and, before that, a grocery store.
The 14,000-square-foot store includes 8,500 square feet of sales space. It's smaller than the old location, which was about 20,000 square feet.
“We're really excited we got Goodwill finished,” said Brian Clark, a real estate developer from Harrison and project manager with center owner Brentwood Blackdog LLC. “It's completely reconstructed from the ground up. It's a beautiful store.”
Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania says the Cheswick store is the seventh of its “next generation” prototypes to open in its service territory within the past four years. The space was remodeled for its operations.
The other prototypes are in Harrison, Heidelberg, Robinson Township and Washington, Pa.; two are in West Virginia.
According to Goodwill, the new location features production and donation areas arranged for maximum efficiency.
The store is wide open and very “green,” with energy-efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning and electrical systems.
Tobiczyk said Goodwill expects the new store to contribute to an increase in sales; a slight drop in sales had been seen at the old store during the past several years.
“Our shoppers are expecting more from our stores,” he said.
Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania had more than $30 million in sales in 2013, up about $2 million from 2012. Tobiczyk said the organization expects a similar increase this year.
Donations to Goodwill stores are strong and have rebounded after being greatly affected by the long, cold winter, Tobiczyk said.
Clark said Brentwood Blackdog is continuing to make progress on redeveloping the shopping center. He said negotiations are under way with a number of potential tenants, but had no announcements to make.
“We have two other buildings to renovate,” Clark said. “All of our efforts are in that right now.”
A flea market in the shopping center has closed and a coin-operated laundry recently moved out. A Chinese restaurant is still there.
The center's parking lot is scheduled to be resurfaced in October, Clark said.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4701 or brittmeyer@tribweb.com.
