Habitat for Humanity ReStore system: sourcing and sales of donated wood-based building materials

The Habitat for Humanity (HFH) ReStore system is composed of hundreds of retail stores that sell a wide variety of building materials. New and used building materials are donated to ReStores and are then resold to generate revenues to support Habitat's mission of building affordable housing for low-income families. This project examined the sales, marketing, and sourcing of wood-based building materials sold through Habitat's ReStore system. Data were collected through the use of a mail survey to all known ReStores currently selling building materials within the United States. Results indicated that on average, wood-based materials made up nearly 30 percent of 2004 sales. The wood-based product category cited as most difficult to sell was window frames; the greatest challenge to selling wood-based materials was missing pieces or components. Several marketing-related variables, such as having a written marketing plan and tracking store performance, were positively related to store sales. Implications are drawn for managers of used building materials enterprises seeking to improve store performance.