"When we were given our assignment to write an article for the news letter, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about. Being semi-retired one of the things that my wife Mary and I wanted to do was visit our children. The only problem with that is our five children and their families are spread across the continental United States. Three of our children are west of the Mississippi. Realizing that it would be difficult to visit them for a weekend I decided to ask Mandy for some time off. Six weeks to be exact. I came up with an idea while I was on vacation to visit other Habitat Restores along our trip. I pitched the idea to Mandy and she agreed it was a good idea.

So on February 5, 2024 my wife, Mary, our two dogs Murphy and Freighter loaded the car and headed out on our trip. Our six week trip took us through fifteen states, Sixty-five hundred miles, visited three children and their families and stopped in on Four Habitat Restores. This is what I found out about those stores.

The stores I visited were in Twin Falls, Idaho, two in Temecula, California, and one in Kansas City Missouri. Three of the Restores (Twin Falls, One of the Temecula Restores, and Kansas City) were very similar to our Restore. The retail space square footage was about the same. as ours. However, none of those three stores had a much warehouse space as our Restore. In fact two of the Restores (Temecula and Kansas City) had no warehouse space. Two of the Restores (Twin Falls and Temecula) used outside areas for sales space.

One of the locations in Temecula was not referred to as a Restore but a Design Store. In that location all of the items were new. They were donated to the location by both Wayfair or Lowes. The retail space was five times the size of ours and the warehouse was similar to ours but they had tractor trailers on their loading dock full of items to be sold.

Like us, all of the locations had staff that were attentive to the needs of the customers. They were very eager to speak with me. Many of the employees that I spoke with had been working at their store for many years.

As for as pickups and and deliveries, all of the Restores were similar to our Restore except for the Temecula Design Store. All of their items are delivered by tractor trailer trucks from Wayfair and Lowes.

What I was able to learn from my trip west is that Habitat Restores are very similar in size, in the items they sell, and the people they employee. They all appear to have the same goals to help the communities that they serve."

-Ed Ryan, Truck Driver & Warehouse Associate

Are you looking to upgrade your appliances? How about remodel parts of your home? Not sure what to do with all of the supplies afterward? We can help!

Our ReStore works tirelessly every day to make sure that much needed household goods are available to the community at affordable prices. We couldn't do that without YOUR help! Our donors are a cherished part of our organization; the driving force!

If you are interested in donating your used household goods, furniture, yard supplies and so much more you can call 231-597-9463 or click on this link: http://docs.google.com/forms/d/17QHBh1EG_yPqHUI5afuUNnWUasD7JdFxO4yhAUqIYQE to start the donation process online!

We will be at Hive North in Cheboygan on March 18th to celebrate our 30th year of serving the community! There will be live music, yummy treats, great people, and tons of information about our programs. You can even learn about our volunteering opportunities and how you can get involved with building safe and affordable housing for families in Cheboygan County. Just by attending this event you are making positive change in our community. There will be a door prize valued over $100 and 10% of all sales from 2pm - 9pm are donated to Cheboygan Habitat!

If you'd like more information you can send an email to [email protected] or call 231-597-4663.

The ReStore is glad to announce that we have 2 new mattress lines to offer our customers. Our mattress sets are still coming from Sealy Restokraft out of Romulus, Michigan, though we are offering our customers something different than what we have had in the past.

We are offering a new single sided option call the Northville. We carry the Northville daily in a firm 11.5 inch mattress with the standard 8.75 inch box spring. We carry twin, full and queen sizes on our sales floor and can special order king sizes for customers that are looking for that size. The Northville comes in firm, medium, plush and euro top, which can be special ordered, though we will only be showcasing the firm.

We are also offering the Sturgis mattress set. The Sturgis is a 6 inch, single sided mattress that is good for bunk beds, kids and occasional sleepers. The set comes with the standard 8.75 inch box spring. We will be carry a limited number of the Sturgis mattresses on the floor, mainly twins, but can special order all sizes as needed.

For those customers needing a size or style not currently in our inventory requiring a special order, you can expect a 1-2 week turnaround time once we place the order. We are required to have a minimum order so that must also be considered when needing a special order.

The best way to choose which mattress style is best for you is to stop in at the ReStore and see them for yourself. We carry some of the best priced mattresses in town and our customers have been quite pleased with their cost and quality. We sell our mattresses in sets, singly or just the box spring if that is what you need. Stop in soon to see what we have to offer!

Questions about pricing and other special order items can be answered in person at the ReStore or by
calling us at 231-597-9463 Ext. 1.