Habitat for Humanity Restore - Florence

I’ve both shopped and donated at Habitat for Humanity Restore for years. I don’t know if there has been a change to the organization or just this particular location, but what happened to the REUSE part? I used to go on a treasure hunt to find some really awesome architectural finds. It’s turned into a watered down hardware store/Goodwill. I called before taking some things to donate, was surprised when they wouldn’t take some doors, but got the ok on cabinets and lighting. When I got there, I was told by the guy working the dock that they won’t take the lights…that the front of the store tells people the wrong thing about what is accepted. (These were brand new/never used fixtures.) The only reason I gave it 2 stars was because the guy working the dock was friendly. I will not be shopping or donating there any more. If I’m giving my things away for free to donate, I’d rather give them directly to a person that will use them.

Habitat for Humanity specializes in used furniture and materials, but this was our first visit. We intended to find something old that we could turn into a DIY garden support trellis. There were items like that here--slatted doors, bed frames, etc.--but not quite anything that would work. Nonetheless, it was a decent store with a good selection of chandeliers, chairs, sinks, cabinets, and more. I wished for more garden or organizational furniture. There were some household items and a good selection of hardware and work tools (hinges, gloves, paint rollers, etc.). We didn't buy much but it was a nice informative visit. There was only one employee at the time but she was very nice and apologized multiple times for taking a while to check us out even though there was a sign posted about being low-staffed, so we expected a wait. This is definitely a good store to check out if you like DIY projects or restoring and refreshing items.