Burnaby residents have a second chance to pick up everything from light fixtures to treadmills to antique desks, all while helping a good cause.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Vancouver has opened its second ReStore in the city, as well as distribution centre for the region. And right next door, Habitat for Humanity Canada has opened a Western Canada distribution centre.
The ReStore - the fourth in the region - is now open at 7977 Enterprise St. in North Burnaby.
The organization hopes to become more visible in the community with the new location, according to Anastasia Koutalianos, director of communications and marketing for the regional Habitat for Humanity.
"There's still a struggle where people don't really know what ReStore is," she said. "We're just letting people explore the hidden gem that is ReStore.
"It's social enterprise with heart," she added. "You buy, and you're doing good."
The regional distribution centre also provides a bigger storage space, allowing the organization to transport products to its four local ReStores.
"We're trying to centralize stuff, so we can finally farm things to stores as we need it," she explained.
Habitat has many connections with businesses in the community, which bring in a wide variety of home décor and furniture, as well as building supplies, according to Koutalianos.
Some of the more unique items come by way of the local film industry.
"I reached out recently to William F. White as well as Mammoth Studios, because right now they're doing (TV) pilot season," Koutalianos said, while pointing out a nearly new living room set from a local production. "We've had a lot of success with the film production companies. Basically, someone sat on this couch four times."
The store also receives older pieces on occasion, she added.
"We have some antique pieces that come in every once in a while, so we try to auction those off," she said. "Basically, we get everything and anything."
The stores are great places for people looking for a project, she added.
"ReStores are great for DIY’ers,” she said. "So if you want to give a little extra love to something, this is the place to be, because our product is so discounted."
New items come from many local businesses, according to Ken Miller, the regional director of ReStore operations.
"We've received a very generous donation from The Bay, and another one from Ashley Furniture Homestore," he said. "We pick up from Home Depot weekly from all their locations."
Today's donation includes everything from brooms to lights, but sometimes the ReStores receive much larger items, he said.
"We'll get lawnmowers and weed eaters," he said. "We'll get a very diverse mix of stuff."
The important thing is to grab things when you see them, Miller said.
"The term in the store that we like to use is, 'you snooze, you lose,'" he said.
"There's something coming into the store every day that's wildly wonderful, that we'll probably never see again."
The store's grand opening on March 16 also coincided with the launch of the Schnitzer's Scrap Drive - a program set up with Schnitzer Steel. The company pays Habitat for Humanity for all the scrap metal the organization can collect, according to Miller.
"Their goal is to donate enough through the scrap drive program that we can actually build a home every year in the communities that we serve," he said.
The new Western Canada distribution centre will also be helpful to local ReStores, Miller said, adding that many ReStores opened in the area surrounding the Eastern distribution centre.
Daryl Morrison runs the Eastern Canada distribution centre for Habitat Canada and has been in Burnaby for the past few months, helping with the set up of the Western Canada centre.
The centre will provide items for ReStores as far east as Manitoba, according to Morrison.
The centre has a website for affiliate stores throughout B.C. and Western Canada, to order from the larger donations that come in, he said.
"This way we can help somebody like Campbell River on the Island - a smaller affiliate," he explained.
Transporting donations from the Eastern distribution centre all the way to B.C. was challenging and costly, he explained.
"This will save on freight costs," Morrison said.
Revenue from the ReStores covers affiliate operational costs, with the rest of the funds going to the organization's build fund, according to Morrison.
Habitat is looking for donations of gently used furniture and home décor, as well as metal for its scrap drive.
The organization also needs volunteers for its ReStores, Koutalianos added.
For more information on Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver, go to habitatgv.ca and for Habitat for Humanity Canada, go to www.habitat.ca.
Correction: March 17, 10:05 a.m. A previous version of this story did not differentiate between the new regional distribution centre that is part of the Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver ReStore on Enterprise Street, and the Western Canada distribution centre, which was started by Habitat for Humanity Canada next door to the ReStore. Those clarifications have now been made.
