Habitat for Humanity ReStore - Germantown — Local services in Village of Germantown

ReStore stores are a constantly-changing gold mine of possibilities for renovating and decorating your home. The Germantown one is my local favorite. Considering the volume and variety of items that keep coming in, it’s well-organized, staff is friendly, and items are priced to sell. It’s not unusual to find new, high-end items selling for 75-90% off regular prices.

Last year I found a little yellow two-seater sofa for $40, likely 60-70 years old, that looked and smelled like new. Thank you little ol’ grandma that kept it under plastic since the 60s. It now resides in our home office. More recently I got two old, heavy glass lamps with awesome heavy lids that you use for an outdoor lamp post. They were better than anything I’ve seen at a store or online, and they were $5 each. Two weeks ago I got two white 4-paneled bi-fold closet doors. Solid core, perfect shape. Similar off-the-shelf doors at local stores currently cost $150-400 each. At ReStore? $15 each. After some hunting I found a brand new bifold door kit for $9.

They have tools, lawn equipment, sometimes musical instruments and electronics, sporting gear, furniture, lighting, doors, windows and millwork, live edge wood, furniture, and all sorts of kitchen, bath and laundry items. Really neat hardware items, electrical parts, HVAC, roofing. If you don’t find what you want, go back in a week...

Tried to donate furniture to this location on two separate occasions over the past 2 years. As our kids grow up and move out of the house, we have tried to donate furniture we no longer need. I was turned away for different reasons when trying to donate at this location, some of the things I was told were, "head boards not wanted", "end table was not in mint condition, can't take it", "dresser had small scratch, sorry we do not want it". I think Habitat for Humanity is a great organization, but I wasted my time coming here thinking I could help their organization out. The old furniture was eventually donated for free on Craigslist. I would highly suggest that you call before donating anything and get a name of whom you spoke to. It would also benefit you to show a picture of what you are donating to a manager, to see if they will accept it. The furniture will need to be in near perfect condition. If the furniture is not in perfect condition or something they want, you may be wasting a lot of time trying to donate...

I called a couple weeks ago to let the person I spoke to, that we had items to donate. They wanted pictures, which I sent. When they came today to pick everything up, they refused the Canadal table with 7 chairs and 4 counter stools, because there were a few areas on the chairs where the paint had chipped. I admit I felt a bit insulted, as they never asked if there were any paint issues. If they had, I would have certainly told them. So, I called, and spoke to Tim, the head person. He said he'd get ahold of the young men on the truck, and get back to me. I told him I might be in a Zoom meeting, but he assured me he'd leave a message, either way. He never called back. When I called the store an hour later, I was told he had left for the day. Now I'm unable to use my garage, as the table and chairs are sitting there without a home to go to. I've learned my lesson. Only donate if your items are 100% unblemished. I never thought I'd feel unappreciated for trying to help someone else, but Restore managed to...