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Habitat for Humanity ReStore builds on community’s resolve
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The Struthers location helps Habitat in multiple ways.
STRUTHERS — There’s no better endorsement for a store than a customer’s words of praise.
Tony and Sherri Carbone of Struthers said they stop weekly at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 480 Youngstown-Poland Road. This week, their purchases were a coffee mug and chair.
“They have a fresh inventory, it’s neat and clean and financially it’s good,” said Tony Carbone. “We always find something that was worth stopping by for.”
Sherri Carbone agreed. “We always buy something. The prices are good.”
That’s music to the ears of Linda Hartwig, manager of the store that opened in May 2008. She has been on board since the beginning, transforming the former car dealership building into a diverse retail store. She previously was a bookkeeper and learned marketing techniques at a former workplace.
She applied that expertise to ReStore.
She said Habitat ReStores aren’t a new concept, noting that the first one opened in 1992 in Austin, Texas. The area stores are in Struthers and Salem.
The name emphasizes how the facilities reuse, recycle and resell items that might otherwise end up in landfills. “Everything in the store is from donations ... from individuals and businesses,” she said. “Some things are close-out and discontinued items from stores ... they use it as a tax write-off.”
ReStore also is a drop-off site for the Mahoning County Green Team.
The scope of donated goods is impressive. ReStore has shelves filled with typical thrift-store items such as books, games, toys, craft items and housewares. The floor area showcases couches, chairs, coffee tables, shelves and tables.
What sets it apart are the home-building products including windows, doors, lighting fixtures, sinks, cabinets, flooring, lumber, electrical and plumbing supplies, tools and tile.
The donations of home-building products are used two ways. “If we’re building a home, we see what we can use out of the donations,” Hartwig said. What isn’t used in that way is sold at ReStore, and the proceeds go to build more Habitat homes in Mahoning County.
“Partner families also can shop here and see what they can use,” Hartwig said, noting the Habitat families get a discount.
Habitat for Humanity follows the motto “A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out.” The faith-based organization partners with low-income families to build houses they can afford to buy; families must invest 350 hours of “sweat equity” in their home or other Habitat houses. “They also can volunteer here,” Hartwig said.
The store has exceeded expectations, she noted.
The store has a growing base of individual donors and businesses, a host of repeat customers and a willing group of volunteers.
T.J. Stamper, who works part time at ReStore, is sometimes out on the road picking up donations, then returning to the store and getting the items ready for sale. He’s a goodwill ambassador for the project — thanking individuals for their contributions and explaining how they help people and support Habitat home building. “People care what’s happening in their community,” he said. “With their donations, they’re helping people and Habitat for Humanity.”
He makes sure contributors know they’re doing a good thing — and they often invite him and volunteer to stay for lunch or have a refreshment.
“It’s important to do what we can,” Stamper said of the people-helping-people effort. “Our reputation is based on the houses built and the families helped.”
Volunteers also lend a special kind of support to ReStore. Bill and Liz Muir got involved through her brother, Ed James. The Muirs, who are retired, had operated a retail store and bring that experience to ReStore. “We wanted to make a difference,” Bill Muir said.
Bill Muir said he enjoyed helping people learn to fix and repair their homes. He and his wife are usually found at ReStore on Thursdays.
Liz Muir applies her “organizing skills” to the front display area, where customers can find home decor and furniture. “I try to put it together so that people can visualize it in their homes,” she said, noting that helps them see what works together. “I want it to look presentable and make a good impression.”
She said many customers are single mothers on a budget. “They need to find a bargain,” she said, noting the store has plenty of them. She also works at the checkout.
Hartwig added that though some of the donations are seemingly outdated, something may fill someone’s need. Just recently, a customer bought a typewriter cover, which he told Hartwig he couldn’t find anywhere but then saw it at ReStore.
linonis@vindy.com