Contact:  Timothy Gleason
Director of Marketing & Community Relations
ABVI-Goodwill of Greater Rochester, Inc.
Tel:  (585) 697-5710
Cell: (585) 748-1525
tgleason@abvi-goodwill.com

ABVI-GOODWILL MOVES INTO TWO NEW COUNTIES
Stores in Macedon and Victor Now Open

Rochester, NY (September 16, 2009) - The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI)-Goodwill of Greater Rochester has been busy this summer expanding, and now has  eight local Goodwill stores. Ribbon cuttings were recently held at our newest stores in Wayne and Ontario Counties, and both are now open.

The first Ontario County store is located in Victor, New York.  The 12,000 square foot opened with a Grand Opening celebration on Saturday, August 22.  Highlights of the day included free Goodwill gift cards to the first 100 shoppers, a live, on-location radio remote, a visit from the mascot of the Rochester Red Wings baseball team, and a drawing to win the grand prize giveaway of a laptop computer. Shoppers streamed in all day, resulting in just over $11,000 in sales for the one day event.

Macedon, New York is the site for the first Wayne County store. At 25,000 square feet, this store is also the agency first building seeking LEED certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.  The Grand Opening celebration was held on Saturday, September 12.  Shoppers lined up before the opening, hoping to get one of the free Goodwill gift cards given out to the first 100 customers.  The line spanned the parking lot by the time the doors opened at 9:00 a.m. with more than 300 people waiting.  The event was also highlighted by a live radio remote, grand prize giveaway of a large screen HDTV, and the opportunity for shoppers to test drive the FLW Ranger Boat Simulator provided through the relationship with FLW Outdoors.  The store was packed with customers all day and grand opening sales at the Macedon store were extraordinary, bringing in close to $27,000 for the one-day event.

“We have already been serving these communities with a comprehensive array of programs, services, and job opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired or have other barriers to employment of independence,” said A.Gidget Hopf, Ed.D., President and CEO of ABVI-Goodwill.  “We’re excited to now bring great shopping values for families in these communities with our Goodwill stores.”

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The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI)-Goodwill Industries of Greater Rochester, Inc., founded in 1911, has a mission to prepare and empower people who are blind or visually impaired to be self-sufficient and contribute to their families and communities.  Through a variety of entrepreneurial business initiatives, including Goodwill retail operations, manufacturing, call center, and food service and catering, the agency is able to support this mission and provide programs, services, career training, and employment opportunities to people who are blind or visually impaired or have other barriers to employment or independence.