Habitat World Online

Habitat ReStores' environmental and fund-raising roles enable supporters to shop with a purpose.

by Rebekah Daniel

According to Habitat legend, three friends in Winnipeg got together one spring evening in 1991 for coffee. They talked; they joked; they brainstormed. Five months and $1,500 in startup capital later, Habitat's first ReStore was born.

Fifteen years and almost 500 ReStores later, the concept seems to be such an obvious complement to affiliate operations that one may wonder why it didn't come about sooner. The idea is simple: In the course of building and rehabbing houses, most Habitat for Humanity affiliates in North America come to possess building materials that, for whatever reason, are not used in the Habitat houses. Why not sell them to raise funds for more houses?

In Austin, Texas, home of the first U.S. ReStore, affiliate leaders realized they were missing out on an opportunity in 1992. "We'd been getting calls from people wanting to donate leftover materials to Habitat," says BJ Perkins, Habitat for Humanity International's ReStore development manager and longtime Austin HFH staff member. "We were turning the product away. But the calls just kept coming and coming."

Since then, Habitat ReStores have spread throughout the country. In some locations, the stores focus on building materials, offering lumber and paint. In other places, the stores veer more toward home furnishings, with appliances, light fixtures and furniture. However, regardless of location, ReStores perform two important financial functions for Habitat affiliates, according to Yakima (Wash.) HFH ReStore manager Rich Kallenberger. "One, the ReStore provides income from sources outside of the already existing patterns of solicitation," he says, "so there's less 'doubledipping' of the existing donor base. Two, the ReStore funds provided to the affiliate are undesignated funds; that is, they are not pre-committed to a specific house or project. This helps fund some of the unglamorous needs of the affiliate."

The payoff can be substantial: In 2005, Metro Denver's Habitat Home Improvement Outlet generated enough revenue to cover 80 percent of the affiliate's administrative and fund-raising expenses. A second store, opened in January 2006, will contribute enough to cover the remaining 20 percent. That earns the affiliate a coveted bragging right: being able to tell donors every dollar they contribute goes directly to building houses.

ReStores also offer the environmental benefit of diverting thousands of tons of material from local landfills. Leftover building materials used in home construction often are discarded because of the difficulty of finding another homeowner willing to use up odd paint colors or carpet remnants. Appliances that are replaced for decorative reasons also are thrown away. ReStores serve as a clearinghouse of sorts, matching leftover products with shoppers who don't mind a limited selection in exchange for discounted prices.

Habitat deconstruction programs have evolved, both to prevent building materials from being thrown away and to provide ReStores with products to sell. "Deconstruction programs can do cherry picking to total takedown of a house," Perkins says. "Approximately 80 percent of a house is recyclable."

In Wake County, home to Raleigh, N.C., a deconstruction program grew from the Wake County HFH ReUse Center's relationship with local builders and remodelers. "We now have staff leading volunteer groups in house deconstruction projects," executive director Woody Yates says. "With the availability of land at a premium, many custom homebuilders and remodelers are resorting to tearing down existing homes to build new ones in their place. Our decon teams are doing house strip-outs--taking out hardwood floors, doors, windows, et cetera--and when time allows and the materials are deemed valuable enough, taking down entire homes."

The financial and environmental benefits of Habitat ReStores are huge--and they aren't even the only benefits. ReStores also provide low-income homeowners and renters with an affordable home-improvement shopping opportunity. Prospective Habitat homeowners often are able to work for sweat equity in ReStores, and people can volunteer in non-construction capacities.

"Plus there's the marketing we do for Habitat for Humanity," Greater Des Moines HFH ReStore manager Tony Thompson says. "While most people learn about the ReStore by being familiar with HFH, there are plenty that learn about HFH by first visiting the ReStore. I'm not sure that's measurable, but certainly we are serving as a constant reminder to the community that HFH exists in Des Moines."

So with all these overwhelming perks, why is there not a ReStore at every U.S. affiliate? "Initially, a challenge is getting the board of directors to take a leap of faith by investing startup capital," says Les Alford, a ReStore volunteer in Bend, Ore. "A more common approach is to look for grant money or some other way of funding it. If a board would prime the pump, the store would be up and running much quicker.

"After startup, lack of space is a common problem because ReStores tend to grow rapidly," he says. "Usually, they start in a small space and then have to acquire a bigger property."

Perkins points out the necessity of the right mix of donors and customers, as well. If a community is too poor, she says, there may not be enough donations to sustain a retail operation even if the need for the ReStore is there. Generally, however, the consensus is that the ReStore idea makes so much sense that it would be rare for a ReStore not to make money.

"The biggest thing a ReStore needs--it's just like everything else: leadership," Thompson says. "If the right person is at the helm and the right people are on staff, people will gather around, buy into the vision, and things will go in the right direction."

Visit www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx for a directory of ReStore locations.


Nearly 500 ReStores across the country provide affordable home-improvement shopping opportunities.