What could be described as a textbook example of sustainability oddly takes place in a very industrial setting, across a large surface parking lot and in a building that once housed the Troeg’s brewery.
The store within sells used building materials at a deep discount, keeping those same building materials out of landfills. And all of the money earned builds affordable homes for those in need.
Harrisburg’s ReStore has been open for three years and, in that time, has generated more than $1 million for Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Harrisburg Area, according to manager Lindsay Kirkwood.
Just as impressive, the Paxton Street store has kept about 2 million pounds of usable materials out of landfills.
The store attracts “treasure-hunters, do-it-yourself folks, contractors—all walks of life,” said Kirkwood.
One of those treasure hunters is Ted Harris, who showed off the two antique oil lamps he had just purchased. He said it was his third time in the store that week.
“It’s possibly a slight addiction,” he said. “You really do never know what’s going to show up.”
Folks carry measuring tape as they walk around examining interior and exterior doors, tables of home goods and sets of kitchen cabinets. A large display of windows, lined vertically side-by-side, looks as if each window has been freshly plucked from someone’s house—because it has.
Kirkwood said that many of the ReStore’s customers are frequent shoppers.
“What’s so great about the ReStore is that so many of our customers are regulars, and they want to tell us what they are working on, and we want to hear it,” she said.
Transformation
Hugh Dorsey, one of the regulars, looked intently at the inventory.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled through pictures of his work, made possible by the ReStore. One project utilized an old fireplace mantle and a few pieces of molding to create a beautiful threshold. He boasted about it as “a $500 look for $28.” He has purchased doors, light fixtures, patio furniture and furnaces for the bed and breakfast he’s renovating and a restaurant, Tia Simones, he’s planning to open at 7th and Maclay streets in Harrisburg.
The ReStore has relationships with local organizations, as well. It recently formalized partnerships with Open Stage and the Sundae Best Variety Show. The store offers discounts on materials, storage when available, and free pickup from shows. In return, Open Stage and Sundae Best provide ads in playbills and volunteer hours, which are essential to the ReStore. The store has only five staff and operates primarily on volunteer power.
Pecola Letterlough (aka Grammi) serves as one of those volunteers. Letterlough is a bundle of energy and all business, with a smile. When asked if I could talk to her, she said, “You can help.” As we arranged picture frames, Letterlough credited her granddaughter, who also volunteers, with telling her about the store.
“I always told my children to give for nothing,” she said. “You give for nothing, and you get a whole lot back.”
The ReStore also relies on donations from individuals and organizations.
“The list of what we take is a lot longer than the list of things we don’t take,” remarked Kirkwood.
More specifically, they accept appliances, building materials, furniture, home décor, cabinets and much more. The store also accepts paint. Kirkwood spouts its requirements like a memorized slogan: “Latex-based, half full, never frozen.” The store offers pick up for larger items.
To better serve the community, the ReStore recently underwent renovations, holding its grand reopening in June. Kirkwood said that the store needed to better display its wares, particularly furniture, and needed a more functional layout for customers to navigate and volunteers to work. Pennsy Supply, the ReStore’s neighbor, donated cement for a new ramp that was a part of the transformation.
The Mission
Most of the ReStore’s inventory goes for rock-bottom prices, with one exception—the massive replica of the Great Shield of the United States, a ceramic eagle holding olive branches, arrows and a shield that sits above Kirkwood’s office door.
This item sells for $75,000. Yes, $75,000—the price to build a Habitat house. Kirkwood would be happy to sell it to anyone who’s willing to pay the price. But, more importantly, the eagle offers an opportunity to talk with customers about why the ReStore exists—to fund Habitat’s mission to build housing for folks who need it.
The ReStore functions as much more than a home improvement retailer, and its name means more than reusing stuff. It restores the environment by keeping usable materials out of landfills; restores the community by providing affordable means of home improvement; and restores families by providing funds to create homes.
Who would think that so much could be accomplished by donating stuff that might be thrown away?
The Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Harrisburg Area ReStore is located at 800 Paxton St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.harrisburgrestore.org or call 717-480-5083.
Check out TheBurg/GK Visual’s “Burg in Focus” video that accompanies this story.
