Habitat plans second ReStore in Mooresville

Having achieved their goal of $1 million in fiscal year sales at the Our Towns Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Cornelius, officials of the charity now have their sights set on another ambitious objective: The successful opening of a second ReStore in Mooresville.

Our Towns Executive Director Terry Laney said Thursday a lease is in the works for the former Staples office supplies location on Norman Station Boulevard. Barring any snags, the Mooresville ReStore – selling new and use furniture, home furnishings, appliances and electronics -- could open within two months.

"Mooresville has been such a great community for us with support," Laney said, noting why the new location was deemed necessary. "For us, we haven't really had a presence outside the homes we have built. We just feel like even though we have built so many homes (in Mooresville), we aren't capitalizing up there. So we were looking for a new location that will generate more sales for us."

He added, "We looked at different locations. I've been looking for a few years.

I was looking for that location that stands out. This one definitely stood out to me."

Laney said officials would like to open the store sooner – worst-case scenario, he said, would be a mid-September debut – but that first day depends on a variety of factors, including how swiftly the lease paperwork is completed.

Our Towns Habitat will sign a three-year lease agreement with the property's current tenant, Staples – still under contract per their own lease – which will include a five-year option for remaining at the site.
"Bottom line is for it to be successful we have to make sure we have enough inventory," said Laney, noting that the shorter lease allows Our Towns Habitat adequate time to determine the store's viability.
"If it costs us too much to operate … it may not be efficient for us to keep running it, but I am highly confident that we're going to meet and exceed our goals and expectations for the store," he added.
Our Towns Habitat's current ReStore in Cornelius – the agency serves Mooresville, Davidson, Cornelius and Huntersville – has already achieved one major goal: Accumulating $1 million in sales for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which ended June 30.
This was the first time in the store's history that $1 million was earned.
"We've been close twice previously, but haven't hit it," said Laney, explaining how much the store's success means for the agency.
"For this past year our budget only called for us to be able to serve 15 families, which is a cut back from the previous year," when 19 families were aided with homes, he added. "We were struggling everywhere with lack of funds coming in. And to have our store step up like that, it really helped to move us ahead and pump us up to move ahead for the year."
Twenty families, rather than 15, were assisted throughout the year because of the increase in ReStore sales.
The store's nearly 150 volunteers, he said, played a huge role in allowing the ReStore to remain stocked, clean and ready to sell materials. The Cornelius ReStore, he noted, is number one in the country among more than 625 Habitat ReStores for volunteer hours used to operate. This location averages 1,100 volunteer hours per month.
Laney said he hopes the Cornelius outlet can continue its success, and perhaps earn another $1 million this year.
"We'd certainly love to achieve that goal again as well as opening our second ReStore and still being able to achieve that."
Donation materials toward the new location are already being collected and stored at a donated warehouse, said Laney. Once the necessary work is completed at the Norman Station Boulevard property – including signage, fencing and installation of a garage door for large donations – and enough stock has been accumulated to fill the 24,000 square-foot space, then the doors can officially swing open.
And a goal for the new location has already been set. Laney noted that the money the Mooresville store first earns will be used toward one of four townhomes that Our Towns Habitat plans to construct on Mills Avenue, behind the former Burlington Mills.
That project, he added, is slated to begin in September.
For more information about Our Towns Habitat for Humanity, including information about donations and volunteering, visit www.ourtownshabitat.org or call 704-896-8957.