Habitat for Humanity store reopening in Englewood
The Englewood Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which has been closed since Hurricane Ian, is set to reopen on Wednesday, July 5. This week, more than two dozen volunteers were busy restocking the 12,000-square-foot ReStore and warehouse located off McCall Road, all with donated goods collected from across Charlotte County.
“She looked like a tuna can,” is the way Kellie Dunson Allen, the senior director of outreach for Charlotte County Habitat, described it as she expressed the extent of the destruction, including a hole in the roof. During the reopening, Allen has affectionately referred to the store as a “she,” reflecting on the considerable damage the ReStore had suffered. In addition to serving as a store, it had also been used as a staging area for recovery operations.
The Englewood store produced 26 percent of the total revenue for Habitat in Charlotte County. The store alone generated an average of $40,000 a month in sales, all of which was used to support homeownership programs in Charlotte County.
Over two dozen volunteers responded to the call for reopening assistance, working together to stage and restore the store. Other ReStores in Charlotte County stepped in to support the Englewood store by providing merchandise, as the storm had necessitated the removal of ruined furniture and household items.
Habitat’s other locations in Charlotte County had already reopened before the end of 2022, fulfilling secondary needs within the community. Some locals have not had insurance reimbursements come through, or estimates have been more than they expected. In those cases, Habitat’s building supplies, including bathroom fixtures, have enabled locals to accomplish renovations more efficiently.
The Charlotte County stores, and the Englewood store in particular, had a good reputation for high quality and unworn items, particularly from house renovations on Boca Grande and in Punta Gorda Isles. One key service of Habitat is its cleanout service, whereby you can hire the nonprofit to empty out all or part of a house before a sale or renovation.
In March, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, Jonathan T.M. Reckford, was in town from Atlanta because of all the interest in hurricane recovery. They took him to tour the Englewood store. While they were there for the visit, people were constantly coming to the door, hoping the store had reopened. Dunson had to send them away.
“This is happening every three to five minutes,” said Allen. “This shows the need the community had for the store.”
The Habitat ReStore in Englewood is at 3325 S. Access Road.
