Goodwill to hire 24 for new stores

St. Louis-based Mers Goodwill plans to hire up to 24 employees for two new stores in Springfield.

The bulk would be for its 425 S. Western Ave. store, a $2.4 million, nearly 15,000-square-foot project with 9,000 square feet of retail space under construction near the intersection of West Bypass and Mount Vernon Street.

The store expected to open May 31 would employ up to 22, according to a news release issued this week by the organization.

Dirt is turning at the site of Goodwill’s second planned store at 3151 S. Kansas Expressway, just south of Battlefield Road and in front of New Covenant Academy.

Goodwill bought the land last July for $1.4 million and also plans to spend $2.4 million on construction.

Expected to be open in October, the store would replace Goodwill’s only current existing store at 520 E. Battlefield Road. The company plans to relocate its 20 existing employees and hire another two, according to the release.

Goodwill also is relocating its 308 Park Central East career center closer to Hammons Field, likely in late summer.