Refinished furniture from the ReStore

Customers sometimes send in before and after pictures to show what they did with things purchased at the ReStore.  Recently a woman bought a credenza that was a decent piece of furniture but not very attractive.  She was able to transform it into a lovely piece.  She sent pictures and a description of the work she did. 

"The wood was in great shape so I didn't have to do much.  Just stripped off the finish with a citrus based stripping gel and applied a stain/polyurethane combination and hand rubbed an oil based stain called black cherry.  I applied two coats of stain, then I used a hand rubbed satin polyurethane for the finish.  The new hardware is all polished nickel.  Other than finishing it twice and spilling a large can of stain in my basement, it was very easy to do."

Thrift shops often have items that don't seem worthwhile as is.  With some work and imagination, many can be transformed into just what the purchaser wants. 

ReStore is back on eBay

Sometime ago we tried selling items on eBay.  We had some success but not a lot.  After a few items didn't sell at all we decided to stop, at least temporarily, listing items on eBay.  We often get in antiques or unusual donations that can be difficult to sell in the store.  Those things require the right person to come in to the store.  eBay increases or chances of matching up the donation with the right customer.

Our first attempt back on eBay is something we tried to sell before.  A pair of Lemaire Opera Glasses were donated a while back.  When we tried before to sell these opera glasses we only received one bid. That was from someone outside the US and we only ship in the US so the sale had to be cancelled.

We have a number of things set aside to try selling online so, if this sale works out, we will be back on eBay often. We will be adding links to our facebook page when we have an offering on eBay as well as blogging about these items.

QVC donates display shelves

A nearby QVC store is closing.  The company wants to concentrate on selling through the TV programming.  The store management contacted us to find out if we would be interested in the display shelves the store used.  After taking a look at the kind of display shelves the QVC store uses we realized that we could definitely use them.

We picked them up a few days ago and have started using them for the electrical aisle.  Before we had wooden racks that were built at the Habitat warehouse.  The QVC racks give the aisle a more professional look.  ReStore's often have the problem of looking like a garage sale.  Selling used merchandise and often not having the funds to buy display shelves tends to create a poor appearance.  Improving the appearance of the store can attract more customers who will buy more and donate more.  This donation from QVC has already improved our appearance and will make it easier to display new items coming into the store.