October 9, 2024

SOUTH BEND ― After almost 20 years of serving the local community, the last remaining Habitat ReStore at 2411 S. Main St. will close on Nov. 1. 

Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County made the announcement on its Facebook page.  

“A big thank you to all of our donors, employees and customers through the years,” the post reads. “This was not an easy decision, but it will allow us to focus our energy on our main mission and what we do best – building homes.” 

The organization, which focuses on providing affordable housing through sweat equity and affordable loans, said it will have sales over the next four weeks to clear its inventory.  

"We invite you to continue shopping the ReStores in Goshen and Plymouth,” the message reads. “Effective immediately, no more donations will be received at the South Bend store, and the store will be closed on Mondays as we wind down operations.” 

Jim Williams, president and CEO of Habitat, said the decision was made to close the retail store because the quality and quantity of donations have been going down while costs of operating the retail location were going up. He said Habitat will do its best to absorb some of the estimated 10 employees or help them find new positions in the community.

"The idea of the stores was to generate funds to build houses ― not take away money from our primary focus," he explained, adding that the money from the sale of such a property can help fund new builds in the community for a decade and beyond.

The organization previously operated a site store at 5225 Grape Road, Mishawaka, that was closed to make room for a possible CarMax.

Mon, August 12, 2024

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego Habitat for Humanity is permanently closing both of its donation-driven home improvement bargain stores, ReStore, later this year, citing high building and finance costs.

San Diego Habitat for Humanity CEO Kwofi Reed said in a statement last month that closing the two stores will help the nonprofit refocus their efforts and resources back to “empowering families by creating more affordable homeownership opportunities across San Diego County.”

"This decision was not made lightly, and it stems from the profound impact of COVID-19 on retail and nonprofit sectors like ours, exacerbated by high building and finance costs in the current market."

“Your continued support is key as we navigate this transition and strive to create lasting, positive change in our community,” the statement continued.

Habitat for Humanity ReStores offer used and unused materials for homeowners making improvements to their properties. All proceeds generated at the stores directly fund the nonprofit’s primary mission of constructing and repairing homes in the county.

The nonprofit previously ran three ReStore locations, Kearny Mesa, National City and Escondido. However, the Escondido location closed at the end of December last year.