Goodwill To Close Jan. 17

A closing date has been announced, but there might not be enough left on the shelves to make it that far.

The Goodwill store in Brooksville has been selling merchandise at a 50 percent discount since it announced the closing. By Saturday, it will slash prices by 75 percent.

Despite the beckoning of those local shoppers who regularly flock to the store searching for clothing deals, the business is shutting its doors for good Saturday, Jan. 17.

"That is what we're planning, but the merchandise is going so fast, they're not sure they will make it much longer," said Michael Ann Harvey, a spokeswoman with Goodwill Industries-Suncoast Inc. out of St. Petersburg.

Shoppers on Thursday were making special trips to the store knowing it would be one of their last chances to buy clothes there.

"It's terrible because I've met so many people here," said Shirley Mussatto, of Spring Hill, who stopped in on the way home from the Brooksville courthouse. "You can come in here and buy some of the most beautiful outfits for nickels and dimes ... It's going to be a major loss."

Goodwill's mission is to offer a "variety of employment and training services, promote self-sufficiency and contribute to community conservation," according to its Web site. It accomplishes its mission through employment services, training programs and affordable housing. The sale of donated goods at their stores enables them to carry out their day-to-day operations.

Originally, the Goodwill in Brooksville, located at 1260 S. Broad St., was to be closed a year ago. Local residents asked to keep the store open, so the lease was extended for a year, Harvey said.

In April 2008, Goodwill opened its superstore in Spring Hill, next to the Lowe's along Commercial Way.

There were a number of reasons why the Brooksville store, while still popular, was inevitably going to close, Harvey said. There was too much overhead. The costs for transportation, labor and leasing agreements were piling.

Goodwill owns the building in Spring Hill, so it does not pay a lease for that location, she said.

"Smaller stores are just not as successful as the larger discount retailers," Harvey admitted. "We have been moving toward the superstore model since 2001. We hung on to the Brooksville store as long as we could because it was so well-loved by the community."

Brooksville has had a Goodwill store since the mid-1970s. It has existed at its current location for nearly 15 years.

"Every time I've been in here, there have been a lot of regular customers," said Greg Scherzinger, of Spring Hill, who was shopping at the store Thursday afternoon. "It's been a valuable asset to the area."

Goodwill Industries-Suncoast manages 15 stores from St. Petersburg to Ocala. New locations will open soon in Oldsmar and Wesley Chapel, Harvey said.