by Madison Fisler Lewis
Aug. 25, 2014. The Watauga County Habitat for Humanity ReStore now has a new look, a new location and much more space to operate out of now that it has finally made the move to 1200 Archie Carrol Rd. in Boone.
The ReStore, which used to operate out of a location off of Old U.S. 421, has a lot to be excited about after the big move.
“We had really outgrown our other building,” said Alex Hooker, Executive Director of Watauga Habitat for Humanity.
“It was 8,000 square feet and this new facility gave us an extra 5,500 square feet. We had been looking for new locations for the last few years, this is one we had looked at previously, and we just decided that this is the most economic move for us.”
The Watauga County ReStore is the fundraising arm for Habitat for Humanity. Most Habitat branches also have a ReStore, which accepts donations and resells them to fund the overall Habitat for Humanity mission.
“The ReStore covers all of our administrative costs and anything extra goes toward building houses and doing repairs and all of the other construction efforts that Habitat does,” Hooker said. “It helps to cover the administration costs so that any dollar a donor gives goes directly to the projects.”
The store relies on donations from individuals, businesses and corporate donations to keep things running.
“We take pretty much anything but clothing and mattresses,” Hooker said. “We take used household goods, our number one sellers are appliances and furniture, building materials and housewares. We got a lot of stuff from the Solar Decathlon at Appalachian, we got a big donation from corporate Lowe’s [Home Improvement], but our bread and butter is locals bringing in things when they are remodeling and they bring in their extra stuff. We pick things up too, so that is a big thing as far as making it easy to donate. If you have a big item like an appliance and you want to donate it, we can come get it.
Aside from the extra space, Hooker hopes that the new location will help bring more exposure to ReStore.
“We think that we are a little more visible here being right off of [U.S.]421,” Hooker said. “As soon as we get proper signage we think it will pick up. We have always done well out here and we are not far from our old location. It is only two miles from the Nissan dealership and just five minutes from New Market Centre. It is a much better shopping experience out here, it is easier to get around, the lighting is better, it is just a better shopping experience.”
Though ReStore’s new location opened its doors on Friday, Aug. 22, a grand opening is in the works.The ReStore is now open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. For more information, visit the website here.
“We are hoping to have a grand opening in the first weeks of September,” Hooker said. “We are really excited about the new place.”
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