Habitat ReStore preparing for Christmas

The ReStore has been decorated for Christmas. All of the holiday decorations are available for purchase. We have a number of items in the store now and usually get more items as we get closer to holiday. Items tend to sell fast also so the turnover happens very quick.

What is in the store at any time changes but we usually have a wide variety of decorations available. Lights, wreaths, lawn ornaments, artificial trees, and tree ornaments are almost always in stock until just after Christmas. Since we don't want to store a lot of items throughout the year we try to price things to sell fast.

Sobieski donates warehouse full of home improvement items

Sobieski Inc. recently contacted the Habitat ReStore to offer a huge donation. A warehouse in Elsmere owned by Sobieski was filled with doors, windows, cabinets and other home remodeling items. The ReStore could take everything we wanted out of the warehouse. This past Saturday we were at the warehouse and cleared out enough items to fill our ReStore truck and three trailers. Some doors, windows, and cabinets from this donation are on the sales floor now. More items will be taken from the trailers and put on the sales floor as room permits.

The Habitat for Humanity Chapter at the University of Delaware provided nine volunteers for the day. A group of ten Americorps volunteers came over from one of the construction sites at 1pm. They were a big help; especially with the large windows and the doors with sidelights. The Americorps group also went back with us to the Restore and helped unload the truck. Without the help of all these young volunteers we would have had to leave thousands of dollars of saleable items behind and these items would have become landfill.

Halloween decoration ideas at the ReStore

While the majority of our shoppers are buying home improvement items for the originally intended use we do get many creative people who come up with artistic things to do with items in the store. Beth, one of our regular volunteers, saw an article about using hardware to decorate pumpkins. She came up with the Jack O'Lantern pictured.

The pumpkin itself is made of styrofoam. For the eyes and mouth Beth used screws and nails, The hair is made of wire. A drawer pull is used for the nose and a piece of duct work became a hat.

We do not sell the pumpkins or the ReStore t-shirts but hardware, lumber, gloves, and wires are available in the store. The items used for the Jack O'Lantern Beth made would cost about $5.

If anyone has made creative use of items purchased at the New Castle County ReStore please send us pictures. We would enjoy showing off your creativity and giving our customers new ideas.

Door and Window Donation from P. J. Fitzpatrick

The ReStore has received a large donation of new doors and windows from P. J. Fitzpatrick. Not only did P. J. Fitzpatrick make this generous donation but also brought the items to the store and unloaded all of it into our receiving area.

We need to measure and price all of them before making them available on the sales floor. Due to the size of the donation, sorting through all of the doors and windows will take some time but we should have some of the windows available by the end of the day Friday (9/2). The doors should be on the sales floor early next week.

P.J. Fitzpatrick is a leading home remodeler specializing in replacement, installation and repair of windows, doors, siding, roofing, gutters, and insulation. The company has locations in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Saying goodbye to two volunteers

Earlier this month our Lutheran Volunteer Corps member ended his year of service and one of our regular volunteers moved to North Carolina. Both will be greatly missed at the ReStore. We are very fortunate to have had them for the time they were here.

Chris Simon was willing and able to help in anyway he was asked. Most days he was on the truck picking up donatios for the first few hours of the day. While in the store in the afternoons Chris was a great asset with any computer question that might arise in the office. He set up this blog and put together a video that we now show on a flatscreen near the store register. Chris also helped set up our facebook page and twitter account. Most of the improvements to the ReStore website during this past year were done by Chris. The few changes that I made were a result of learning from Chris how to make those changes.

Alan started volunteering with us while searching for work. Having been in sales his whole life he was great with customers. Alan seemed to have an infinite amount of patience. He would happily spend a significant amount of time with a customer who wanted to go through every door in the store or every can of paint to, possibly, find the right one.

Alan was also a great help at offsite events that we attended. In trying to promote the store we go to many events such as the Delaware Home Show or to flea markets in the area. Alan's knack for starting a conversation with anyone was just what we needed at these events. He could draw people into a discussion of the store when those people were probably just going to pass right by us.

Chris will be getting his Master's degree in music. It seems unneccesary to wish him good luck. I can't imagine Chris not succeeding in anything he wants to accomplish.

Alan plans to volunteer with the Habitat where he is living now. They will soon wonder, as we do, how they got along without him.

ReStore in need of part-time and volunteer help

We have just ended our fiscal year with our best sales total ever. This year we beat our previous best year by over $65,000. The sales alone have made this a very busy year. Better sales usually go hand-in-hand with a larger number of donations and that has been the case this year especially in the last few months.

With all of this increased activity we need more help around the store. Currently we are in need of a part-time driver/helper who can go on pick-ups. The position requires the ability to do heavy lifting. Anyone interested in the position can contact Joe Robertson,(302) 652-5181 or jrobertson@habitatncc.org.

Also, we are always looking for new volunteers. We need volunteers to help in the store or picking up donations. Volunteers in the store ring the register, assist customers, move items onto the sales floor, and help customers load purchases. Volunteers who go on pick-ups must be able to do heavy lifting. Anyone interested in volunteering can call or e-mail the store or go to http://www.HabitatNCC.org/volunteer/index.php and click the Volunteer Now link.

The new fiscal year has gotten off to a great start. Our sales have been strong and we have been receiving a good supply of donations. If you or anyone you know may be interested in working at the ReStore as a volunteer or paid staff please contact us.

Hotel donation

Habitat ReStore is getting in a huge donation from a local hotel. The hotel has been sold recently. Since the decor does not fit with the new owners style many items are being removed. The new owners have kindly offered these items to the ReStore instead of simply disposing in a landfill. The hotel has never been occupied so all of these items are like new.

Most of what we are getting are bathroom items. We will received cabinets along with granite countertops and cultured marble vanity tops. The countertops and vanity tops will come with faucets.

The process of removing these items from the hotel has begun. It will take until sometime next week to be completed. In the meantime, we will be receiving items over the next several days. Please stop by or call the store for more information.

Office Furniture at the ReStore

ING had storage space next to our location. They have moved out of that location and offered to donate any of the office furniture that we wanted to take. Normally we try to stick with household furniture but this donation was too good to refuse.

It is causing our furniture room to be packed. It is difficult to even move around in the room but it is worth the look if you need any kind of furniture.

The ING furniture includes a number of swivel chairs, some high back chairs, wood file cabinets, computer tables, and a desk with a matching credenza. Many of the file cabinets have shelving units on top. Even though it was designed for an office much of the furniture would look good in a home.

Along with this office furniture we have a large selection of household furniture available in the store. Some of the items are pictured on our website or Facebook page. We have a few dining room tables, some of them with a full compliment of chairs. We also have a dining room set that just came in with table, chairs, and hutch. This set is in very good condition.

We have a large selection of bedroom furniture in now. Bedroom furniture tends to sell very quickly. There are a few dressers availble and a beautiful 5-piece bedroom set with a queen size bed.

This furniture probably won't last long -some of it has sold already. Stop by the store and check out this fantastic selection before it is all gone.

Habitat ReStore of New Castle County Delaware

       Welcome to the new blog for the Habitat ReStore of New Castle County!  We hope you’ll find this blog a useful resource for keeping up-to-date with what’s happening in the ReStore.  Future editions of this blog will update readers on specific items in the store and any sales we may be planning.  If there is other content you would like to see in this blog, feel free to let us know in the comments section.  In the meantime, feel free to come into the store to see what we have in stock or visit our website which includes pictures of several select items that are currently in stock.
     The ReStore of New Castle County Delaware sells donated new and used household items and construction materials to the general public.  Items sold in the ReStore include furniture, appliances, lights, tools and construction materials, windows, doors, and cabinets.  Proceeds from sales help fund the building done by Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County. New Castle's Habitat affiliate is one of the most active Habitats in the northeast, building 21 houses a year.  The affiliate will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, and we plan to build a record 25 houses during the year to mark the occasion.
     Habitat ReStore also provides a source for reusing items that would otherwise wind up in landfills. Many of the construction and home improvement items we resell are not taken by other area thrift stores. Without Habitat ReStore, homeowners and home repair specialists would have little choice but to dispose of these items.
    Items for sale are donated by individuals or businesses in the New Castle County area.  We accept donations at our store during store hours or, for larger items that cannot be brought in by the donor, pick-up can be scheduled by calling the store. All donations are inspected before we accept them and we provide a receipt for tax purposes. 
     The success of our store is mainly attributable to word-of-mouth.  We appreciate when our customers or donors tell friends, family, and co-workers about our location.  We also find people appreciate having been told about us.