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Goodwill Industries of Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia said a suspicious fire broke out in the charity store on Black Horse Pike. No one was injured in the fire.
Egg Harbor Township police said the fire started at around 1:30 p.m. and investigators are looking for the cause of it. Firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to other stores in the Cardiff Plaza Shopping Center.
All items in the store suffered smoke or water damage.
“To lose 100% of our merchandise so generously donated to us is devastating," said Mark Boyd, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia.
The donation center in the back of the building will remain open for its normal business hours. The 30 employees at the locations have been reassigned to other nearby stores or will work at the donation center in Egg Harbor Township.
Goodwill also said the store, which opened in March 1997, desperately needs donations like clothes, accessories, toys, and other household items.
"Goodwill operates as an entrepreneurial minded nonprofit," Boyd said in a news release. "We collect, recycle, and sell donated items in our retail stores to fund mission-based programs that are available free of charge to the local community. I encourage the Egg Harbor Township community and beyond to open their hearts and closets to Goodwill to assist us in rebuilding store inventory."
The next closest Goodwill locations to Egg Harbor Township are in Millville, Hammonton, and Bayville.
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