WINDHAM – Sometime in the first half of 2012, shoppers will find more Goodwill around Windham.

This week, Goodwill Industries of Northern New England broke ground on a new building in North Windham that will have more than double the storage capacity and a much larger retail area than its store in the North Windham Shopping Center.

The donations-driven store has been located next to the post office in the shopping center for more than a decade. That location will close in early summer and the operation will shift to the larger site now under construction on Landing Road near Walmart on Route 302.

Goodwill spokeswoman Michelle Smith, who reports strong sales at the Windham location, said the store now has a “very small backroom” where employees process donations. The move, she said, will allow for wider aisles and more display space.

The new store will retain the same hours of operation but increase by a third the number of employees, Smith added. She also said that the greater Windham area has been a source of quality donations, and without those donations, the store would not be able to expand.

“Windham has been a great community, and the way our model works is that we rely on donations, so it’s important to be in areas where we receive good donations, and that particular store has been doing well with donations,” Smith said.

The existing store is about 8,000 square feet, Smith said. The new store, built on a 5.99-acre vacant parcel at 31 Landing Road, will be about 17,800 square feet. The store and parking lot will take up about 2 acres of the 6-acre site across Landing Road from Walmart, described as “strategic” by the parcel’s listing broker Larry Eliason, of Butts Commercial Brokers of Windham.

“It is a great spot for a retailer, with Lowe’s, Walmart, Planet Fitness in the same area. And for Goodwill to stay in Windham and expand, it’s very positive for Windham,” Eliason said.

When Goodwill moves out of the North Windham Shopping Center, it will leave a void, but Eliason said it should fill quickly.

“We’re seeing things happening in town, so while (Goodwill’s move) creates a void, it also opens up an opportunity for another retailer looking for a 6,000-to-8,000 (square-foot) footprint,” he said.

According to Smith, the look of the new store is a departure from traditional Goodwill stores. The “small-box” design has a pitched fac?ade, islands to break up the parking lot and a drive-thru donation drop-off area where employees will be on hand to receive donations.

The building’s exterior design, as proposed, also met Windham’s set of design guidelines “right out of the gate,” said Windham’s planning assistant, Ben Smith.

James Herrick Architect, based in Topsham, designed the structure, which is similar to newly built stores in Auburn and Topsham and a recently renovated store in South Portland, Smith added.

Goodwill will be leasing the site from Michael Sweeney of Winthrop Investments, which also developed a Goodwill store in Belfast in 2008.

Sweeney said the foundation will likely be poured by Turner-based K&K Excavation beginning later this week with all construction expected to be complete by June 1. The structure will be built by Northeast Equipment, based in Waldo.

“It’s a terrific location,” Sweeney said. “And it’s very level, sandy soil (that is) excellent to build on.”

The site already has a sophisticated stormwater run-off system that was engineered when Lowe’s was built in 2006, Eliason said.

The store will continue to be the only Goodwill in the Lakes Region. Area stores include locations in Portland, Gorham, South Portland, Falmouth and Biddeford, Smith said.

“Windham has been a great community to partner with,” Smith said. The new store will be one of the newer model stores, which will be more pleasant, with wider aisles, more dressing rooms, and offer shoppers more diverse options.”

A soon-to-be-built Goodwill store in North Windham, which
conforms to the town’s new design guidelines, was designed by James
Herrick Architect, based in Topsham. (Courtesy photo)