NEWPORT NEWS — A beige building with brick and green trim sits across the parking lot from a Lowe’s Home Improvement store. The words “Habitat for Humanity ReStore Store & Donation Center” are in blue, green and white.
The Habitat for Humanity ReStores are local home improvement and donation stores that sell a variety of items such as new or used furniture, appliances, and building materials at a discounted price. The profits from the ReStores fund the Habitat for Humanity homebuilding program that builds and sells new homes to families with low incomes.
Janet Green, CEO for the Habitat for Humanity for Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg areas said “100 percent of the net profits are for building homes.”
The ReStore in Newport News was previously located in a shopping center off Warwick Boulevard in Hilton Village. It was there for about 15 years.
The ReStore moved to its current location less than a year ago.
Green said the store now has more than 5,000 square feet of space and has a bigger donation area in the back of the building. The ReStore’s four donation trucks are used to pick up items throughout the area at no charge.
“People that donate get a tax-deduction,” Green said.
Many of the items displayed in the store are donated, and local employers like Ferguson, Lowes and Walmart, have also contributed to the store’s inventory by providing plumbing supplies, cans of paint and shoes. Lots of shoes.
Customers can find other items such as cabinet doors, full-sized front doors, bed frames, mattresses and rugs. There are even home appliances for sale.
“Every time we come here, we find something,” said Denise Pickett, who was browsing a table of various housewares with her significant other, Mark Dillard.
Pickett moved to Hampton a few years ago but still comes to the ReStore to shop, about twice a month.
“If you are looking for something, you’ll find it,” Pickett said.
The staff currently consists of 14 paid employees and around 20 regular volunteers, said Brenda Taylor, manager of the Newport News Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
The store is always looking for volunteers.
The Habitat for Humanity Restore, 371 Chatham Drive, will celebrate its one-year anniversary on Oct. 20 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
