Two vacant boxes, one in Henrico and one in Chester, are getting tenants. For nearby homeowners, who fills an empty anchor matters more than most people realize.
Jack Jacobs reported for Richmond BizSense today that Goodwill is taking two former big-box spaces in the region, and the details are a decent snapshot of where Richmond retail real estate actually is.
Henrico: a 34,000 square foot combo store on West Broad
Goodwill will open a combined outlet and retail store early next year in the former Big Lots at 8028 West Broad Street, in the Fountain Square shopping center near the West Broad and Parham intersection in Henrico County.
It is a $1.8 million buildout on a 10-year initial lease, and Goodwill expects to need roughly 50 employees, up from a little over 20 at its current store. Spokeswoman Laura Faison told BizSense the existing store at 8018 West Broad, which has operated in a stand-alone outparcel in the same center for about 20 years, is one of the chain’s most popular locations and has simply outgrown the building.
The new space includes Henrico’s first Goodwill outlet, where clothing, accessories and housewares are sold by the pound and larger items are priced individually. Outlets take inventory that did not sell at retail locations. It will be the fourth outlet for Goodwill Central and Coastal Virginia, joining 6301 Midlothian Turnpike in South Richmond plus Hampton and Virginia Beach, and the first combined retail-and-outlet location in central Virginia.
Chester: a former Rite Aid near Brightpoint
South of the river, Goodwill plans a 14,700 square foot retail store in a former Rite Aid at 2600 Weir Place in Chester, targeted for the fourth quarter of this year, with about $800,000 in upfit costs. The building sits near the Chester campus of Brightpoint Community College.
Faison said the organization has been deliberately taking closed Rite Aid buildings because the format suits its retail model. Chester will be its third such conversion in Virginia, after Virginia Beach and a store near Williamsburg.
Chester does not have a dedicated community page on our site yet. For the southern end of the county, start with the Chesterfield County hub and the Chesterfield and Ettrick pages.
The part that matters if you own a house nearby
A dark anchor box is one of the few genuinely negative things that can happen to a residential area without anything being built at all.
Vacant anchors drag the rest of a center down. Inline tenants lose foot traffic, then leave. Signage decays, parking lots go unmaintained, and the whole property starts reading as declining to anyone touring a house a quarter mile away. Buyers notice. They rarely articulate it as retail vacancy, they just say the area feels tired.
So a 34,000 square foot box getting a tenant on a 10-year lease is a good outcome for the neighborhoods around West Broad and Parham, and a 14,700 square foot pharmacy shell getting filled is a good outcome for Chester. Neither is glamorous. Both beat the alternative.
The second-order detail is worth noting too. Goodwill’s Henrico move vacates the outparcel building at 8018 West Broad, so one box fills and a smaller one empties. Outparcels are generally easier to lease than anchors, but the center is not strictly better off by one tenant.
What this tells you about the corridor
Read it alongside the other West Broad news. Nordstrom Rack is taking 30,000 square feet at Westpark, further west on the same road. Two large vacancies on West Broad absorbed within a few weeks, by tenants at opposite ends of the price spectrum, is a corridor with functioning demand rather than a corridor in trouble.
The tenants tell you about the trade areas. Off-price fashion at Westpark, value and secondhand at Fountain Square. Retailers segment a road like West Broad far more finely than buyers do, and their leases are a reasonable proxy for how each stretch is performing. The neighborhoods around Tuckahoe sit between the two.
For price context in these submarkets, our July 2026 market update has Henrico at a $475,000 median with 1.5 months of supply and Chesterfield at $440,000 with 1.8 months.
Frequently asked questions
When does the new Henrico Goodwill open?
Early next year, according to Goodwill, in the former Big Lots at 8028 West Broad Street in the Fountain Square shopping center. The company has a 10-year initial lease on the 34,000 square foot space and is spending $1.8 million on buildout.
What is a Goodwill outlet and how is it different from a regular store?
Outlets sell clothing, accessories and housewares by the pound rather than by the item, with furniture and larger goods individually priced. The inventory is what did not sell at regular Goodwill retail stores. This will be Henrico’s first.
Where is the Chester store going?
2600 Weir Place, in a former Rite Aid of about 14,700 square feet near Brightpoint Community College’s Chester campus. Goodwill is targeting the fourth quarter of 2026 and spending roughly $800,000 on the conversion.
Is the existing West Broad Goodwill closing?
It is relocating, not closing. The store at 8018 West Broad has been in a stand-alone outparcel in the same center for about 20 years and moves into the larger anchor space, which keeps its existing customer base.
Does a thrift store nearby affect home values?
There is no credible evidence that a specific retail category moves residential values in a suburban corridor. What does affect perception is vacancy. An occupied anchor with a 10-year lease is a better neighbor than an empty one, whatever the banner says.
Why is Goodwill taking over old Rite Aid buildings?
Faison told BizSense the format fits their retail model well, and the pharmacy chain’s closures have made these buildings available. Chester is the organization’s third Rite Aid conversion in Virginia after Virginia Beach and one near Williamsburg.
Curious how a nearby center affects a specific street?
We can tell you which blocks actually feel a shopping center and which are buffered from it. Browse our property search or see how we work with buyers.
Reporting credit: Jack Jacobs, Richmond BizSense, August 31, 2026. Local analysis is our own. County context from Henrico County.
