All About the Bend ReStore Expansion with Nick and Paige

Karen Malanga: Hi, this is Karen Malanga with House Talk. I’m so excited to have Paige and Nick back to visit from the ReStore here in Bend.

I do want to mention one thing though. They’re going to be talking about their expansion. But I just learned before we went live here that on Thursdays, it’s Mature Day at the ReStore, and it’s 20% off all items. Nick and Paige, all items or…?

Paige: All items, excluding some of the things that our volunteers make.

Karen: Oh, like the planter boxes or the benches.

Paige: Right, or anything that are reclamations—so anything that our volunteers have contributed their labor to. But other than that, about 90% of the store is just donated material. And you have to be 55 and older. We don’t really check ID’s, but we’ll take your word for it. And yes, you get to 20% off.

Karen: That’s awesome. So now, tell us about your expansion.

Nick: So we are in the midst of getting ready to break ground. We’re expanding 6500 sq. ft. in total, 3000 sq. ft. of new retail space. And then we’re doing a small TI fit-out for our affiliate to move over into the same building.

So we’re going to build out some offices in our south retail.

Karen: I was wondering what is TI.

Nick: Tenant improvement.

Karen: Thank you.

Nick: But we get started this week. Actually today, we should be breaking ground and starting to remove asphalt, getting ready for foundation.

Karen: Isn’t it surprising how much you’ve grown already?

Nick: It’s shocking! I was taking one of our employees over to our mechanic for our trucks—which we have three of now, when I started with one that we had to take to the mechanic a lot. But it’s right next door to our old store. And it’s been a couple of years. So it was shocking. We had a moment to revel in what’s happening, how far we’ve come in the last couple of years.

Paige: And I do want people to know also that we are going to be open—our plan is to stay open as much as possible all during construction. So this fall and winter, even though the parking lot might look a little intimidating or crazy, come by and see what’s going because we are going to be open during construction.

Karen: What I can’t believe is—so I come down the street, and I’m excited to get there at nine. I’m there at five of nine. There’s already a line of cars. And you guys have this unique way of shutting off the parking lot with traffic cones and a chain. And we wait for this guy to come out and unlock this chain, and then the cars just zoom in, park and everybody runs in.

It’s like they can’t wait to see what they might find—that perfect sink or maybe the chandelier or who knows what they’re looking. I can’t ever figure it out. But the rush is on. It’s amazing.

Paige: Everyone is so busy in Bend, remodeling, and all the projects. Bend is a town of doers, I think.

Nick: Absolutely! Yesterday, I was putting up some doors in the store, and I overheard a couple conversations next to our door section. And it’s contractors bringing in their clients, shopping for doors, windows.

Karen: Kitchen cabinets, everything.

Nick: I don’t mean to be a salesman, but hey, this is a door, this is a steel. I’m over here and I’m just like, “Wow, this is great.”

Karen: It’s good to bring your contractor in there because I personally have looked at doors, and then I thought, “Okay, so the door is inexpensive, but then, what is it going to cost to really frame for that door? Is the framing right for the hole it’s going in?” So to have your contractor with you would make a lot of sense.

Paige: It saves us a little bit of headache too because a lot of times, people think we have all the construction knowledge. And our volunteers, we can’t really answer plumbing or electrical questions. But we try.

Nick: […] and it seems like it worked. Give it a whirl.

Paige: We try. That’s part of the fun too, just learning new things

Karen: So can you just review for our audience your address, the hours you’re open?

Paige: So we are open Tuesday through Friday, nine to five, and Saturday 10 to 4 to shop. If you are looking to donate, we’re open Monday through Saturday 10 to 4 for donations. We also just upgraded our website, thanks to Alpine Internet. So ReStoreBend.org. There’s a free pick-up form over there.

Karen: That’s fantastic to know.

Paige: We have the form for the free pick-up service. You’re also welcome to do that too.

Nick: And the address is 224 Northeast Thurston. It’s the old Baxter Builders location right across the street from North McDonalds and Robberson Ford.

Karen: Paige and Nick, thank you so much for being on House Talk today.

Nick: Thanks for having us.