Sept. 14, 2006
 
Elder-Beerman, Goodwill Industries Sale Supports Local Job Training Programs
 
By HNN Staff
 
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Help local people in the Tri-state area find good jobs just by cleaning out your closet. From Sept. 14 to 25, 2006, customers who donate clean, gently-used clothing and home textiles at participating locations will receive coupons toward the purchase of new merchandise. One coupon is given per item donated, and all donations support local Goodwill Industries job training and career services to help people find good jobs.
 
Customers can drop off donations at the Elder-Beerman stores in the Huntington Mall or Ashland’s Kyova Mall, or at participating Goodwill of KYOWVA Area Inc. stores and donation centers. The donated clothing and textiles will be sold in local Goodwill retail stores and revenues will be used to fund job training and career services for people with disabilities, welfare recipients and other job seekers.
 
“The Goodwill Sale is a great benefit to our customers. Anyone can clean out their closets for a great cause and also receive a substantial discount on new items purchased at our stores,” said Bud Bergren, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. “The revenue generated by our customers’ donations will help the local Goodwill provide job training to people who are trying to enter the workforce.”
 
The Goodwill Sale partnership between the two organizations developed after The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. purchased Saks Incorporated’s Northern Department Store Group in March 2006. The Northern Department Store Group (Carson Pirie Scott & Co.) had a long-standing and successful relationship with Goodwill Industries generating more than $36 million for Goodwill since the sale began in 1994.
 
“Partnerships such as the Goodwill Sale at Elder-Beerman engage citizens in a way that helps Goodwill expand and enhance its career programs in the community,“ says George W. Kessinger, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. “The Goodwill Sale exemplifies Elder-Beerman’s commitment to communities in which it operates.”
 
Founded in Boston in 1902 by Rev. Edgar J. Helms, a Methodist minister, Goodwill Industries first put people to work by hiring them to repair and sell donated goods. Today, Goodwill Industries trains people for careers in fields such as financial services, computer programming and healthcare.
 
To pay for its programs, Goodwill sells donated clothes and other household items in more than 2,015 retail stores, and online at www.shopgoodwill.com. The organization also builds revenue and creates jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including janitorial work, packaging and assembly, food service preparation and document imaging and shredding. In 2005, more than 846,000 people benefited from Goodwill’s career programs. Goodwill Industries International reported $2.65 billion in revenue and channels 83 percent of its revenues directly into its programs and services.
 
The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (Nasdaq: BONT) operates 271 department stores and seven furniture galleries in 23 states in the Northeast, Midwest and Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers nameplates. The stores offer a broad assortment of brand-name fashion apparel and accessories for women, men and children, as well as cosmetics, home furnishings and other goods.