Canadian Retailer - Store 2014 - 51

2014 ERA AWARDS CORPORATE & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (MID-SIZE RETAILER)
AWARD WINNER

AWARD SPONSOR

RESTORING HUMANITY AT HABITAT
FOR HUMANITY
Not-for-profit organization continues to provide housing for
Canadian families in need
THE need for affordable housing in Canada is

significant. Today, more than 1.5 million Canadian families lack a safe, decent and affordable
place to live. Of these Canadians, an estimated
75,000 to 100,000 families would qualify as
Habitat for Humanity homeowners. The question Habitat for Humanity had to ask itself was:
How can we serve more of these families?
Habitat for Humanity is a charity that works
to provide access to safe, decent and affordable homeownership to families in need. So far,
Habitat has provided homes to 3,300 families in
Canada and abroad. An integral part of this success flows from Habitat's ReStore, a retail store
that accepts donations from the community and
resells quality new and used building materials,
furniture, appliances and home decor.
ReStore locations are run by Habitat for Humanity affiliates and the funds they generate
support local operations and building programs. The first ReStore opened in Winnipeg
in 1991, and started a global trend. In 2013,
Habitat launched six new ReStores in Canada.
There are now more than 800 ReStores around
the world, with 84 across Canada. ReStore focuses on generating revenue by selling donated products at good prices to the general
public. All profits from the ReStore go to fund
the building of more houses in the community
where the store resides.
Productivity and Partnerships

Habitat for Humanity entered 2013 with 78
ReStores and added six new stores. Fourteen
existing stores moved or expanded into more
professional retail locations. As store numbers,
brand awareness and operation sophistication
have increased, so too have gross sales and
net profit (in this case, the amount being given
back to affiliates for building houses). Also in
2013, gross sales and net profits grew to all-time
highs-gross sales hit $41.1 million and net profits exceeded $16.5 million, with approximately
another $750,000 in recycling revenue from

ReStore helps Canadian families in need.

both metal recycling and a new electronic waste recycling initiative. Overall, Habitat's 84 ReStores diverted approximately
27,000 tons of waste from landfills across Canada, store sales
were up more than 6 per cent and profits increased 7 per cent.
If the average cost to build a house is $125,000 (cost greatly varies by location), then the ReStore profits built 132 houses in Canada for families in need in 2013. That represents 55 per cent of the
241 houses built in Canada in 2013 by Habitat for Humanity.
One of the ways ReStore has thrived is through partnerships
with Canadian retailers. In 2013, The Home Depot Canada donated in excess of $6 million in product by diverting all of its returnto-vendor product to ReStore locations across Canada. The Brick
continued to fundraise for Habitat and donated product from each
retail location. These retailers and others, including Sears Canada, HBC, Blinds to GO, Lowes, Rona and Home Hardware, donated time, product and money to Habitat's retail venture.
"Without retailers the ReStore program would not have nearly the impact that it does on affordable housing in Canada,"
says Rob Voisin, Senior Director, National ReStore and Product
Services at Habitat for Humanity Canada. He says that the ReStore concept provides the perfect partnership opportunity for
retailers and Habitat.
The good work will continue. The charity's current strategic
plan for the next five years is to build double the number of
houses that it built in its first 25 years in Canada.

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