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Goodwill reopens Wrightsboro Road store in augusta. Published: Jul. 30, 2026 at 10:57 AM PDT | Updated: 3 hours ago AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Goodwill's Wrightsboro Road store is back open, and the community showed up. The store held its grand reopening Thursday morning at 3362 Wrightsboro Road, drawing a crowd of shoppers eager to return to a location that had been closed for several years. Leah Pontani-Small, Chief Mission Officer for Goodwill, said the store closed when the organization's lease ended and they initially set out to find a new location - but community feedback changed that. "We received so much feedback from the community about the importance of this store at this location," Pontani-Small said. "We were able to reach out to the owners and ultimately ended up purchasing the building so that we could have a longtime presence here in the Wrightsboro Road area." With school out for the summer and food prices still high, local organizations are seeing an increase in need across the CSRA. Pontani-Small said renovations included upgraded energy-efficient lighting and floor plan changes to improve the shopping experience, with more improvements planned in the coming years. She said the turnout at the reopening spoke for itself. "Over the last couple of weeks while we've been here preparing the store, every single day we've had folks coming and knocking on the door to get inside," she said. "The number of shoppers that's here right now is a testament to how badly the community wanted us to come back to this location." Pontani-Small said shopping and donating at Goodwill goes beyond finding a bargain. "Anytime you donate here or shop here, you're really reinvesting in individuals in the community that need career services or education or training programs through Goodwill career education or Helms College," she said. Kimberly Jones Quarterman, a longtime customer who arrived at 9:15 a.m. and was among the first through the doors, said the closure hit hard. "When it was closed, it was like devastating," Jones Quarterman said. "Every time you come in here, you find such great bargains and such great deals." She said the reopening felt like a reunion. "It's so much fun seeing all the regular shoppers that used to be here - we're running into each other like, where have you been, what have you been doing," she said. "It's been great." Jones Quarterman encouraged others to come out. "Just come out and participate and help us increase the opportunities in the community," she said. The store's retail hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Donation hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Goodwill turns to Western for textile waste recycling research. Goodwill Industries is working with Western University and Fanshawe College in Ontario, Canada, to devise methods for diverting waste from landfill by recycling textiles and other donated items. The research partnerships are focused on transforming unrecyclable clothing into soil-amending products and using artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the sorting of donations. According to Western, the Ontario Great Lakes region took in over 43 million pounds of donations in the past fiscal year. Some of these donations cannot be resold or reused, making landfill diversion a challenge. In response, Goodwill turned to researchers at Western University and Fanshawe College for expertise in recycling and automation. Researchers from Western's Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR), along with Fanshawe's Centre for Research and Innovation, are converting clothing waste through a process called pyrolysis. The method breaks down textiles, which often contain mixed fibres and additives, into biochar. Biochar, a porous carbon material, is used to enrich soil by helping it retain nutrients and support micro-organisms. Early research indicates that plants can grow better with textile-derived biochar than without it. Heejin Lee, a postdoctoral research associate at Fanshawe College collaborating with ICFAR, explained: "Textile waste is often difficult to recycle using conventional methods because it's a mixture of different kinds of fibres with dyes and additives. That means many textiles end up in landfills." Another part of the collaboration looks at the use of enzymes to break down natural fabrics like cotton or hemp into sugars, which could have further industrial applications. Researchers said many donated textiles in North America still end up in landfills after they cannot be resold. In addition to recycling innovations, Western University is also developing AI systems to improve Goodwill's sorting process. Currently, donated items are sorted manually. Professor Min Xia from Western's engineering faculty is leading work on a system that uses smart cameras to scan and categorise donations as they move on a conveyor belt. The aim is to reduce the amount of reusable material being sent to landfill. Commenting on the project, Min Xia said: "Cameras will help to identify the items, and if they miss them, the system will give the workers a signal to easily identify them. Then again at the end of the conveyor, there will be another camera to guarantee nothing ends up in the landfill that shouldn't." The partners have diverted about 5,000 pounds of clothing waste from landfill since the textile project began more than four years ago. Researchers have applied for a federal grant to expand their work with the aim of addressing the remaining unsellable textiles in the coming years. The AI sorting system is expected to be operational within a year, with further improvements anticipated as the collaborations continue. Give your business an edge with its leading industry insights.

'Two years in the making'; Cortland community welcomes its first Goodwill store. * Paige Kingsley Staff Reporter * jul 17, 2026 updated 2 hrs ago. * Paige Kingsley/Staff Reporter CORTLAND - Cortland shoppers lined up as early as 8 a.m. Friday to be some of the first customers at the brand new Goodwill location in Riverside Plaza. The store, which will be operated by Goodwill of the Finger Lakes, occupies a previously empty storefront in the plaza. Goodwill of the Finger Lakes President and CEO Jennifer Lake was there to congratulate all the store employees and staff on the hard work put into opening the doors, and she also participated in the ribbon-cutting with local officials and Goodwill personnel who assisted with the project. Lake said a Cortland location has been about two years in the making, and this storefront provided the perfect conditions for a retail and donation spot.