Habitat for Humanity Restore Coming to Waterford in April

Habitat for Humanity has announced it will be moving its Restore from Salem into 82 Boston Post Road in Waterford “sometime in April.”

The largest reason for the move is that the Salem store, which is located within Salem Country Gardens, is not climate controlled, according to Amanda Shanks, operations manager of Habitat for Humanity of Southeastern Connecticut. The new spot in 82 Boston Post Road is larger than Restore’s current location, and the nonprofit organization has signed a three-year lease to move into the property, she said.

“Our main concern was that our location is not climate controlled,” Shanks said. “We loved Salem. The people in Salem really treated us wonderfully.”

Habitat for Humanity searched around for a “more densely populated area” before finding the spot on Waterford, Shanks said. She said having a high car count was important, as the hope is to have more people use the Restore.

“We hope so,” said Shanks, when asked if she thinks the new location will mean more business. “That’s our aim. We'll see.”

The Restore will be closed for a week, at the most, when it moves from Salem to Waterford, Shanks said. Habitat for Humanity has to do some renovations at 82 Boston Post Road, but the group is looking to move in sometime in April, she said.

The Restore was located in Salem for five years, according to a Habitat for Humanity press release. The exact move-in date will be announced soon, according to the release.

About the Restore

A Restore accepts donated “gently-used” construction materials, home accessories, appliances, furniture and other home improvement supplies and then sells them at a discounted cost. All the proceeds from the store go to Habitat for Humanity, an international Christian nonprofit organization “founded on the conviction that every man, woman and child should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live,” according to the organization’s website.

The Restore employs one full-time employee and one part-time employee, Shanks said. The rest of the staff are volunteers, she said.