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Goodwill store reopens in IM

Site had been dark for about five years

By MARGUERITE LANTHIER, Staff Writer 4 min read

IRON MOUNTAIN -- If Wednesday's grand re-opening was any indication, the Goodwill store in Iron Mountain will bring a much-needed shopping option to the area.

"(Wednesday) was an amazing day. The sales were … we did about a week's worth of projected sales in a day," manager Kristy Howell said. "It was so much fun, even though my management team worked 12 hours."

"It went really well; we had some fantastic comments. The community seems to like having us back," added Cheryl Windbiel, former regional manager, who came out of retirement to train staff.

"I love it, I absolutely love it. I was really sad when they had to close it. To have it open and to have a full store, instead of a clearance center, this makes a whole difference," she said.

The store closed about five years ago. "With it being a clearance center, it really didn't do well and the sales weren't real good. And I get it. It wasn't as big as this is didn't have as much. This is exciting," she added.

Management accidentally opened an hour early on Wednesday, which turned out to be a good thing with sales lines snaking through the store for several hours.

Most of the sales were in clothing and Windbiel thinks people are really excited to have another place to buy clothes.

"There's not a lot of places to buy clothing in this town. We try to make sure all the clothing we put on the floor are the best of the best," Howell said.

Howell, of Kingsford, was a social worker before being hired as manager in May.

"I've worked child welfare and adult services for 25-plus years. I was looking for something new," Howell said. "I love thrifting and I love Goodwill and what they stand for.

"It's a non-profit thrift store that depends on the donations from our wonderful community and also gives back to the community through empowering people to get back to work. Our mantra is 'empowering people through workforce development,' so eventually like all our other locations, we will have a workforce development program, too, the 'possibilities program,'" she said. "It may take a couple of years. The program helps people get back to work that are not at the point of being employable right now … We teach them how to be employable individuals," she said.

The store is at its former site at 1074 S. Stephenson Ave., between Tractor Supply and Dunham's Sports.

It employs about 20 people right now, an all-new team, with several more to be added in the next few weeks.

The store is a franchise in a region that includes all the Upper Peninsula Goodwill locations and the store in Marinette, Wis.

Shelby Matthews, who is originally from Washington state and moved to the area in 2022, is part of the customer service team.

"I love it. I'm from a bigger city, so bigger cities don't have that small-town feel where the community looks out for each other," she said. "I really value that as a single mom, people looking out for each other."

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

Donations can be brought to a door in back from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. The unloading area has a sign that lists items they don't accept.

"We're keeping all of the local donations in the local community," Howell said.

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Marguerite Lanthier can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 85242, or mlanthier@ironmountaindailynews.com.

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