{"id":363245,"date":"2026-08-05T09:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T09:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/363245\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T09:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T09:40:10","slug":"goodwill-opens-new-store-in-former-muscle-car-city-space-retail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/363245\/","title":{"rendered":"Goodwill opens new store in former Muscle Car City space | Retail"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Former<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida relocated its Punta Gorda retail and donation center to the former Muscle Car City Museum at Seminole Lakes Plaza. The 12,000-square-foot store is the nonprofit’s largest location in Charlotte County.<\/p>\n

Goodwill Industries of Southwest<\/p>\n

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida found a new home for its retail and donation center in Punta Gorda, and its former location will be converted into a Goodwill Outlet Express, officials said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new Goodwill spans 12,000 square feet \u2014 4,000 square feet larger than its previous store. It occupies the former Muscle Car City Museum space in Seminole Lakes Plaza, 10175 Tamiami Trail, south of its former location at 3415 Tamiami Trail.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is the largest Goodwill store in Charlotte County, and the training center behind the retail space will serve Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida\u2019s regional operations, said Debra Donatto, director of communications and marketing for Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new store resembles a traditional department store, but in addition to new merchandise that Donatto calls \u201cspecial purchases,\u201d it features racks and shelves of gently used goods.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Goodwill<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Store Manager Becky Mahler cuts the ribbon during the grand opening of Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida’s new Punta Gorda retail and donation center on July 30. Standing nearby are Board Member Dale Schneider (wearing glasses), Goodwill President and CEO John Nadeau (holding the ribbon), Rikka Bos (wearing a black top and white pants), and Punta Gorda Chamber Executive Director Sean McLaughlin at far right.<\/p>\n

Charlotte County Chamber of Comm<\/p>\n

The store offers a mix of new and donated merchandise, including clothing, shoes, books, games, toys, sporting equipment, housewares, toiletries, linens, gadgets and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Goodwill had outgrown its former location for some time. Donatto said the biggest issue was parking, with visitors often circling the building while waiting for a space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is ample parking at Seminole Lakes Plaza, which has undergone extensive renovations under its new ownership, including updates to the buildings, roof and parking lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Shoppers<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Customers browse the sales floor during the grand opening of Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida’s new Punta Gorda location, which features more retail space than the nonprofit’s previous store.<\/p>\n

Goodwill Industries of Southwest<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge at the new location was designing the sales floor. Unlike the division\u2019s other Goodwill stores, which have a traditional box-shaped layout, the former Muscle Car City space is round. A staff member designed the store\u2019s floor plan, adding a boutique area near the entrance to make better use of the unique configuration, Donatto said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an enormous amount of space to fill,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To help fill the store, Goodwill brought in new merchandise from its buying shows, including mattresses and pillows, since the nonprofit does not sell used bedding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Books for children, young adults and adults line the shelves inside Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida’s new Punta Gorda store, which offers a larger selection of donated merchandise than its previous location.<\/p>\n

Goodwill Industries of Southwest<\/p>\n

The store also carries bed frames and headboards to complement the new mattresses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thrifting, once considered a hobby for many shoppers, has increasingly become a way to save money amid inflation. It has also become increasingly popular among Gen Z and millennial shoppers, according to multiple reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Workers are now preparing the former Goodwill location for its next chapter as a Goodwill Outlet Express. Donatto said large bins will hold merchandise sold by the pound.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Expanded<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Clothing racks fill the sales floor at Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida’s new Punta Gorda store, which was designed to resemble a traditional department store while offering both donated and new merchandise.<\/p>\n

Goodwill Industries of Southwest<\/p>\n

Items remain on Goodwill store shelves for three weeks before being marked down 50%. During the fourth week, tagged merchandise is sold for $1.99 on Sunday and Monday based on a designated tag color. Unsold items are then transferred to the outlet, where they are placed in the bins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new store celebrated its grand opening July 30, with visitors lining up before the 7:45 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Donatto said the Port Charlotte Goodwill store, which was destroyed by Hurricane Ian, is expected to reopen in November on U.S. 41.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida relocated its Punta Gorda retail and donation center to the former Muscle Car…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,147686,12738,3047,35179,131317],"class_list":["post-363245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-donation-center","tag-goodwill","tag-retail","tag-store-opening","tag-thrift-store"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}