New location opens Aug. 27.

With shopping carts out front and cars in the parking lot, people can’t help but think Goodwill is open for business.

“People come in and try to shop now even though it’s not open yet,” store manager Denise Mortensen said. “I’ve been scooting them out and saying, ‘No, we’re still a construction zone.’”

The wait is almost over though because the Silverdale Goodwill, located at 10001 Mickelberry Road NW across from Costco, will open at 9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 27.

“I think it’s going to be a fantastic location for us,” Seattle Goodwill Regional Manager Paul La France said.

The Silverdale store is Seattle Goodwill’s third location on the Kitsap Peninsula and 18th in the central and north Puget Sound region. La France said the 33,400-square-foot Silverdale store also is Seattle Goodwill’s third largest facility.

Seattle Goodwill announced it was moving into the vacant Linens ‘n Things building in May. A 28-foot donation trailer was set up in the parking lot and a lot of the items gathered since then are now for sale inside the building.

Seattle Goodwill spokeswoman Betsy McFeely said some items may be shipped in from Seattle to stock the Silverdale store shelves, but most of the goods will come from Kitsap County.

“Ultimately, they’ll be fairly self-sustaining,” she said.

The Silverdale Goodwill will sell clothing, housewares, books, electronics and a variety of other items.

“The two most popular departments are definitely the women’s textiles department and housewares,” La France said. “Our clothing department is our biggest department. For the most part, that’s what they come in for in the first place.”

La France said Goodwill is popular with families because it’s a good way to save money.

“It’s so much easier for moms to clothe their children here rather than Target or Wal-Mart,” he said.

Goodwill is already gearing up for its biggest season of the year — Halloween. The seasonal merchandise is on display at the front of the store and costumes will arrive in stores Sept. 1.

“Halloween is huge for us,” La France said. “It’s our Christmas.”

Proceeds from the store’s retail sales will help support its Job Training and Education Center.

The Kitsap region’s JTE center was located at the Bremerton Goodwill store, but it’s now housed inside the Silverdale location.

The expanded center will be able to help more people acquire job skills and find employment free-of-charge.

The center’s first session of classes is Sept. 8 through Oct. 2 and will offer the following classes:

• English for Speakers of Other Languages: Tuesday and Thursday, 1-2:30 p.m. and 5-6:30 p.m.

• Computer Basics/Micrsoft: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-Noon

• Computer Basics/Internet and e-mail: Tuesday and Thursday, 1-2:30 p.m.

• Career Lab/AARP Worksearch: Monday and Wednesday, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

• Workshops in resume writing, job searching and interviewing: schedule to be determined.

For more information or to register for classes, call (360) 698-6776.