Goodwill of Greater Washington will open its new Germantown store and donation center on Tuesday, May 26 at 10 am, giving the charity a new foothold in Montgomery County north of Gaithersburg. Donations are already being accepted at the site ahead of the opening.

The location sits inside the new Waters Village Shopping Center redevelopment at the intersection of Waters Road and Wisteria Drive, where Goodwill will serve as the primary tenant in one of the center’s new retail buildings. The May 26 debut is being treated as a soft opening, with an official grand opening celebration expected to be scheduled later.

The Germantown opening comes just weeks after Goodwill opened a new Rockville location at the Montrose Shopping Center earlier this month, underscoring a run of expansion in the Washington area. For shoppers and donors in this part of Montgomery County, the new site shortens the trip for drop-offs and brings the brand into one of the county’s fast-developing retail projects.

The timing matters because the store is already taking donations before the doors officially open, a sign that the charity wants the site functioning quickly even before the larger celebration is set. The soft opening also leaves room for a later event, but for now the focus is on getting the new Germantown operation up and running.

For Goodwill of Greater Washington, the broader picture is straightforward: the organization is planting a first retail store and donation center in Montgomery County north of Gaithersburg and moving into a major redevelopment at Waters Village. The first customers will arrive Tuesday morning, and the first load of donations is already on site.