Habitat for Humanity Stores See Jump in Business

Jim Ferguson shops at Helena's Habitat for Humanity store to find inexpensive items that will improve the house he rents and hopes to buy.

Roger Nolte stands behind the counter at the Habitat for Humanity store in Helena, Mont. Feb. 18,...

Roger Nolte stands behind the counter at the Habitat for Humanity store in Helena, Mont. Feb. 18, 2009, to take payment from Jim Ferguson as he buys an item for his house. Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the United States operate home improvement stores selling new and used goods. Sales generate money for Habitat's mission of building houses for people in need. The organization says customer demand at the stores is up during the recession, but at some, donations of items to sell are down. (AP Photo/Ron Zellar)

(AP)

On one recent trip, Ferguson paid 50 cents for a secondhand glass lampshade. He figured a retailer would have sold it, new, for $8.

"There are little goodies here at tremendous prices," he said in the home improvement store occupying a 19th century railroad warehouse with stone walls. Donated sinks, countertops, wood trim, ceramic tile, windows and hardhats are part of the new and used inventory at this store, one of about 550 operated by Habitat for Humanity affiliates throughout the United States. Sales help support the organization's mission of building modest houses that families in need then buy at favorable terms.

People looking to save money during the recession are boosting sales at the stores. On the flip side, some stores are struggling to keep shelves stocked as demand rises and donations slip. Fewer homeowners are doing the kind of improvement projects that generate donations, and declines in home building have reduced the supply of materials left over from construction jobs.

"The person who was taking out their $4,500 or $5,000 cherry cabinet set, (donating it) and replacing it with a $10,000 set is not doing that now," said Terry Assad, manager of Habitat stores in Charlotte, N.C. "People are hanging on to stuff."

Kevin Campbell, director of building industry relations for Habitat for Humanity International in Apex, N.C., said there have been reports of "some softness" in donations, but "I don't think anybody's panicking that they'll have customers and nothing to sell them."

Sometimes businesses that close send their remaining inventory to Habitat stores. Then there are businesses that routinely donate merchandise to get it off their sales floors, items a Habitat store typically will price 50 percent below retail.

"They close something out, they quit selling a certain model," said John Alexander, Habitat executive in Waco, Texas, where 15 percent of the Habitat budget comes from a store built on a former used-car lot. Among other things, shoppers find concrete pavers and blocks that a local producer provides by the pallet.