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Local Habitat Store Is A Model For Others Across America

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Lindsay Leinen tests couches while her husband shops for appliances Wednesday at the Habitat for Humanity Home Supply store in downtown Sebring. Leinen have been going to the store about every other day in hopes to find the right sofa for their home.

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By MANDY SHEETS | Highlands Today

Published: February 23, 2008

SEBRING — With shoppers usually waiting outside for the doors to open, the Habitat for Humanity Home Supply store is easily the busiest place in downtown Sebring.

Although many Habitat for Humanity affiliates have similar stores selling furniture and building materials, most are not as popular or profitable as the one on 137 S. Commerce Ave.

"We have one of the most successful home supply stores in the nation," said Jane Breylinger, executive director of Highlands County Habitat for Humanity.

Store Manager Chuck Ball said the store had more than $600,000 of sales last year. That's enough not only to cover the administration costs of the nonprofit organization but also to build two houses every year.

"It's a tremendous accomplishment for us because that means when someone makes a donation to Habitat, 100 percent of it goes toward building a home," Breylinger said.

The store wasn't a shoe-in from the beginning though. Ball said when the store opened six years ago, a few ragged couches sold for $10 during the week of the 12 Hours of Sebring comprised most of the inventory.

"We were happy to get anything to sell," l said.

Now two trucks pick up donations four days a week, and the inventory at the resale store changes so fast even the people who work there every day can't keep track of it.

"A lot of our customers come in here every day because our store is different every day," Ball said. "We have a very high turnover of merchandise; stuff moves very quickly."

So fast, in fact, that the employees warn shoppers if they see something they want, buy it on the spot - a lesson that Lindsay Leinen, of Sebring, learned first hand.

About a week ago Leinen saw a checkered couch for $85 that she wanted to buy, but by the time she brought her husband back to the store to check it out, it was sold.

"I learned never to ask my husband," Leinen said with a laugh. "Next time I see something I want, I am buying it on the spot."

She visits the store about three times a week, or any time she is in the area, to look for couches while her husband looks for doors and shutters.

Everything in the store, from knick-knacks sold for change to a teak dining set that sold for a few thousand dollars, is donated.

"Part of our success comes from the support we have from the community," Breylinger said. "In some communities, the stores have to purchase the items to sell, and we have never had to do that. We run purely on donations and that makes a huge difference."

Ball said some people will donate furniture from furnished homes or leave entire estates to the store.

"We only take items that we can sell," Ball said. "We are not looking for torn, ripped couches. We want good, quality things. About 95 percent of the calls we go on result in stuff we can sell."

One assistant manager is even specifically in charge of development and calls on businesses, asking if they have anything to donate.

"We do it consistently, and we get a lot of donations that way," Ball said. "People have things they want to donate, and they don't get around to calling us right away. When we come to them, they usually have something for us."

Eileen Green, a volunteer at the store, said everything that comes into the store is sold, typically within about a week or two at the most.

"Sometimes we get stuff we don't think anyone will buy, but someone always does," Green said. "There is nothing we can't sell, and we really do have something for everyone."

The store also has a lot of "whatchamacallits," the term the volunteers give to anything they can't identify.

"We get donations sometimes, and we have no idea what they are," Green said. "We usually put those in some place that catches people's eye. Soon enough someone will be able to tell us what it is or that it is just what they are looking for."

Sharing Secrets To Success

The store has become so successful that it is a prototype for new or struggling Habitat for Humanity stores. Ball recently conducted a seminar at the statewide Habitat for Humanity conference about the secrets to success in running the store.

"The thing that makes us so successful is the volunteers we have working here," Ball said. "We all love what we are doing and love being here. We have great fellowship.

"(This job is) the most fulfilling thing I have ever done in my life."

About 90 volunteers make the operation possible. Breylinger said some affiliates have to pay employees to work at their stores, which takes away from a lot of the profit.

"I love it so much, I would pay them to let me work here," said volunteer Gloria Hall-Schimmel as she straightened up some books. "This is such a friendly environment; it's a joy to be here."

Some future homeowners even work in the store as part of their 400 hours of sweat equity.

"We really enjoy working directly with the people that we are helping," Ball said. "We get to know the people and their living conditions, and we see the real need right here in our community. It's a great feeling to know we are doing something to help it."

The Habitat for Humanity Home Supply Store is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; it is closed Sunday and Monday.

For more information or to schedule a pickup, call 385-7111.

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