A bigger and better Salvation Army Family Store opened its doors Friday in a building that will offer much more than clothing and household items.
Salvation Army workers, volunteers and board members, along with members of the community and Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce representatives, gathered at the 20,000-square-foot location at 214 Mississippi 7 in a strip mall next to the offices of the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
Lt. Tami Ellis, a corps officer, said the Family Store had been at four locations around town serving Greenwood over the past 45 years. It moved from space on U.S. 82 to its new location in a building owned by the Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation.
“We are a family, a family store, a family of God,” Ellis said, just steps away from a gigantic red wall sign that reads “HOPE.”
Emily Roush-Elliott led a crew from Delta Design Build Workshop in transforming a space that had been four storefronts in one part of the building, originally operating as a call center before housing a number of businesses such as Sleepy Steve’s mattress store.
Just minutes after the front doors of the Salvation Army store were opened, shoppers were already finding things they couldn’t live without in an expansive space that includes ample room for clothing and household goods, accent walls of reclaimed wood for special items, dressing rooms, and a back-room area to allow for prep and storage that opens to a loading dock. The store, offices and adjacent Community Center were designed and built by Emily Roush-Elliott and her crew from Delta Design Build Workshop.
The south side of the facility invites shoppers from the front entrance to its wide-open spaces with many tables and racks supporting goods for sale.
Roush-Elliott said the store now offers dressing rooms and a back-room storage and prep area that opens to loading docks at the back of the building.
Accent walls have been built from reclaimed wood to highlight special collections of items for sale, she said, adding The Salvation Army and her firm shared similar values in choosing to use the reclaimed lumber and cut back on waste.
Adjacent to the Family Store is office space for staff and services such as counseling, and there is another wide-open space that will become a Community Center for programs and activities designed to help families in need.
Lt. Jamaal Ellis said The Salvation Army is still working on plans for what can be offered through the Community Center but will start with women’s programs and programs for kids that had been offered at the previous location and through the group’s church location on North Stone Avenue.
“We want this center to be an asset to the community,” he said.
Lt. Jamaal Ellis said The Salvation Army has been approached for some nonprofits in need of a location for their operations and is working out details on best use of the space.
“This allows us to use the assets that have been allotted to us to do good,” he said.
•Contact Gavin Maliska at 581-7235 or gmaliska@gwcommonwealth.com.
