Shoppers 'Stormed' Saturday Opening of Fridley Salvation Army Store

Fridley's new Salvation Army store—the first in the Midwest to sell only new merchandise—took in $78,000 on its opening day Saturday.

That's according to a tweet Monday afternoon from the Salvation Army:

Saturday shoppers stormed our new Fridley store that only sells new items. $78,000 raised for ppl in need.

"It's a new look at an old idea," Jack Kinney, director of Operations for Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center told the Star Tribune:

"We needed to change or cease to exist," Kinney said. "New merchandise brings in new customers."

The organization's downtown Minneapolis rehab center gets all of the money generated at the new store.

It's been quite a holiday-winter season for retail in Fridley: A new Goodwill store opened in December.

Have you shopped at the new Salvation Army store (at 1000 E. Moore Lake Dr., where Brand Name Deals used to be)? What did you like about it? What did you buy? Leave a comment below.