ReStore-ing your home; Business offers hard-to-find items for home renovators

By Harold Carmichael

Mention the Greater Sudbury Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and images of used doors, windows and sinks usually come to mind.

But the non-profit operation in the former Campbell Chevrolet building at 250 Frood Rd. has many other aspects to it.

For example, there is a section devoted entirely to donated used appliances. On Thursday, more than a dozen stoves, dryers, and even a vertical freezer, all in good shape, sat ready for purchase. And sell they would.

"Most of them will be gone by the weekend," said Lise Rheault, executive officer/store manager. "Right now, we need fridges. We have two left in stock. They go anywhere from $75-300 depending on the make, year and condition. We have a repairman who looks everything over. We also give a 14-day warranty."

Selling appliances was a tricky, if not next-to-impossible matter, at the old ReStore location at 450 Notre Dame Ave. when it opened in 2004. With just 7,500 square feet of space, compared to the 12,500 now, there was a limited amount of room to function. Loading and unloading transports was also difficult. That all changed Aug. 1 with the move over to Frood Road.

Now, there's more retail floor space, plenty of room for big deliveries and even work areas to repair and clean donated items. The receiving area is massive, allowing the five staff and 20 volunteers to sort things and do work such as remove nails from used construction lumber.

"Now, we have a boardroom, office space we didn't have, and more yard space," said Rheault. "We have more space to get things out. It's a lot more organized. We have displays now that we couldn't do over there."

Although the ReStore is located in a less-visible location, it hasn't lost its customer base.

"It took a while, but the people who know what we are have found us and we have picked up some new customers," said Rheault.
Proceeds form the ReStore go to help build homes for low-income Greater Sudbury residents.

The big demand items at the ReStore are doors, cabinets, stainless steel sinks, door knobs, and pieces of construction wood such as 2X4s. Demand is so great for some items that people leave their names and telephone numbers in "want" books so they can be called when what they are looking for comes in.

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