The Bon-Ton Stores Collected Nearly 3 Million Pounds of Donations as Part of the Annual Goodwill® Sale

ROCKVILLE, Md., April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The semi-annual Goodwill Sale, a partnership between The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) and Goodwill Industries International, collected nearly three million pounds of clothing and textiles during its spring promotion. The donations have an estimated value of $17 million in revenue. Goodwill will sell the donations in its stores and the revenue will fund job training programs and community-based services, such as financial education, youth mentoring, tax preparation and transportation for the communities in which Goodwill operates. The sale took place from March 7–22, 2012, at all 272 Bon-Ton stores in the Northeast, Midwest and Upper Great Plains of the United States.

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"The Goodwill Sale with Bon-Ton is our longest-running cause partnership," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. "The relationship enables Goodwill to collect high-quality, gently used items for sale and use the revenue to support job search classes, resume writing and other skills training in emerging industries for people with disabilities and other disadvantages to finding employment across the nation."

Donors received coupons for each donation to use at Bon-Ton Stores. Donors also had the opportunity to share their donations on the Million Acts of Goodwill website, where they could access an exclusive 25 percent-off coupon and a chance to win a $25-50 gift card and a $1,000 shopping spree.

"Bon-Ton works in collaboration with Goodwill on the Goodwill Sale to create employment opportunities to meet the needs of local employers in high-growth industries," said Brendan L. Hoffman, president and chief executive officer of The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. "The Goodwill Sale at Bon-Ton Stores is not only one of our customers' favorite events, it helps build futures for individuals in our communities across the country who are in need of career training and employment services."

The Goodwill Sale takes place twice a year in the spring and fall. Since 1994, the Goodwill Sale cause-marketing collaboration has generated an estimated potential value of more than $184 million in revenue to support Goodwill's employment services.

About Goodwill Industries International:

Goodwill Industries International is a network of 165 community-based agencies in the United States and Canada with 14 affiliates in 13 other countries. Goodwill agencies are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 2,600 stores and online at shopgoodwill.com. Local Goodwill agencies also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food service preparation, and document imaging and shredding. In 2011, more than four million people in the United States and Canada benefited from Goodwill's career services. Goodwill channels 84 percent of its revenues directly into its programs and services. To find a Goodwill location near you, use the online locator at http://goodwill.org, or call (800) GOODWILL. Follow Goodwill Industries International on Facebook at GoodwillIntl and Twitter @GoodwillIntl.

About The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc.:

The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., with corporate headquarters in York, Pennsylvania and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operates 272 department stores, which include 11 furniture galleries, in 23 states in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson's, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's and Younkers nameplates and, in the Detroit, MI, area, under the Parisian nameplate. The stores offer a broad assortment of national and private brand fashion apparel and accessories for women, men and children, as well as cosmetics and home furnishings. The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. is an active and positive participant in the communities it serves. The Goodwill Sale event is a long-standing charitable partnership developed to support and build strong communities. For further information, please visit  http://investors.bonton.com. Follow Bon-Ton at Facebook at Bonton and Twitter @thebonton.

SOURCE Goodwill Industries International