The building is packed with donated goods stacked on top of one another, with shelves so crowded that the materials overflow onto the floor. For store manager Katherine Harris, employees and volunteers, finding space to place materials is becoming difficult.

“There are times we can’t even walk there is so much stuff,” Harris said.

Harris manages the non-profit Habitat for Humanity ReStore, at 800 Comet Lane, as part of a solution to get families out of substandardized housing.

The Habitat for Humanity ReStore accepts donations of reusable housing materials and then resells them to the community at discounted prices. A customer does not have to be living in low-income housing or be involved with Habitat for Humanity to shop here. The money earned by ReStore helps fund construction costs to build Habitat for Humanity homes.

ReStore also serves as an affiliate storage location for the volunteer organization. The construction side of Habitat for Humanity picks up supplies from ReStore to help build housing.

Harris said ReStore had run out of space in its 9,000-square-foot building, with hundreds of donations crowded into its retail space. She said ReStore needed more customers and volunteers so it could eventually relocate to a larger building with a better location. Harris said that if ReStore fulfilled these needs and moved into a new 20,000- to 25,000-square-foot building, it could bring in more donations and customer traffic. This would increase the income, which in return would help more families get out of inadequate housing.

“The faster we make a profit, the faster we get people out of substandardized housing,” Harris said.

According to Harris, when it first opened in September 2005, Restore brought in 200 customers a month. Now it brings 500 customers a moth. Restore’s busiest sales season runs from May to September, with sales dropping off during the winter months. Harris said that if ReStore relocated into a 20,000-square-foot building it would triple its customer count.

A journalism class at the University of Kansas recently began researching and conducting interviews with customers at ReStore. Based on the interviews, students in the class, taught by Robert Basow, associate professor of journalism, will analyze ways to help ReStore advertise and generate profit.

ReStore also needs volunteers to help load and unload donations, and to price and showcase them in the store. Harris said ReStore could use about 30 different volunteers each week who could preferably work four-hour shifts. She said that volunteering at ReStore was a good way for student organizations to achieve their community service hours.

“We have so few volunteers that we will take whoever for however long they want to work,” Harris said.

With more customer traffic, ReStore could increase its income. ReStore has already increased its monthly sales by nearly 50 percent during 2007. Now it is about to sell its 500th ton of material. When the retailer first opened in September 2005 its monthly sales were $2,500. Now it brings in about $15,000 in monthly sales. ReStore is still not generating a profit because of an interest-free loan borrowed from the Habitat organization that must be paid off. However, in order to even consider relocation ReStore must break even this year, pay off its debt and start generating a profit next year.

For Clifford Lafrenze, a regular customer, shopping at Restore an average of two to three times a month is not unusual.

“I like it,” Lafrenze said. “ It’s a chance to get some stuff cheaper than you would normally from somewhere else and it’s good stuff.”

Lafrenze said that he and his wife, Margie, bought a little bit of everything from ReStore, from sinks, light fixtures, stoves and refrigerators to trim boards and even tile.

“I hate to throw things away that still have good use left in them,” he said. “Plus it saves on the landfill.”

Habitat for Humanity homeowner Serenity Walters picked out the majority of her home’s materials from ReStore. Walters is a senior administrative associate in human resources at the University. Before becoming a Habitat for Humanity homeowner, Walters and her now 13-year-old son, Kainen Spooner, lived in low-income housing in Lawrence. One condition that applied to her eligibility for a Habitat home was a 200-hour sweat equity, meaning she had to either help build someone else’s home or volunteer at ReStore for 50 hours and then help build her own home for 150 hours. Walters chose to volunteer her first 50 hours at the ReStore.

While Walters helped build her own home, she visited ReStore frequently to purchase items such as light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, sinks and faucets.

“You pick everything out from the ReStore,” Walters said. “I love it. You get to decide how you want your house to look.”

In addition to ReStore’s already discounted prices, Habitat for Humanity homeowners receive a 30 percent discount on their purchases from ReStore. Walters said that knowing that she could afford to replace broken household material was reassuring.

“I think ReStore is the best thing to ever happen to Habitat for Humanity,” Walters said.

Local business donors, such as Electric Supply Lighting, contribute to ReStore. Electric Supply Lighting schedules donation pick-ups at least twice a year ranging anywhere from three to 11 pallets of materials that are old, slightly scratched or dented, overstocked or otherwise unmarketable. It also gives a larger discount to ReStore than it would to other builders. Michelle Mailand, Electric Supply Lighting store manager, said that since ReStore opened its doors, Electric Supply has donated thousands of dollars in material goods. The company also helps ReStore with pricing and recommendations.

“We do this because ReStore is helping serve our community that we live in and support,” Mailand said.

For now, Harris concentrates primarily on getting more customers through the door. She hoped that ReStore could generate enough profit to relocate so that it would be large enough to make a Habitat compound where all Habitat business could be conducted in one location.

“Restore hopes to increase all the parts that make us run: donations of material, customers to buy the material, and volunteers to help get the materials ready to buy,” Harris said.

— Edited by Patrick De Oliveira