WESTFIELD—If you’re into repurposed items and home improvement, then you may want to check out ReStore Westfield for its ReStore RePurpose Rivalry happening over the next couple of months.
In support of the store’s new Sunday operation, as well as their two-year anniversary celebrated earlier this year, ReStore Westfield on East Main Street will have nine contestants to take furnishings or furniture found at the Westfield store and repurpose them. The event will culminate Nov. 19 with a silent auction on the items, and voting from customers who come to the store will occur in the weeks before the auction.
A collection of items at the ReStore Westfield.
The ReStore Westfield on East Main Street provides shoppers with more affordable home improvement items.
“We have nine contestants that are going to take a piece of furnishing or furniture from our store and make it bold, refreshed,” Bill Zagorski, store manager for ReStore Westfield, said.
The store, which celebrated its two-year anniversary in April and has hours of operation on Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., in addition to Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., provides customers with home improvement items that can be much lower than their retail prices through donations to the store. In addition, the items purchased help Habitat for Humanity, who the store is affiliated with.
A collection of windows inside ReStore Westfield.
“We take in new or slightly used hard goods and charge a fraction of the cost and the money goes to Habitat for Humanity,” Jennifer Schimmel, Executive Director, said.
“Our mission is to sell furniture but our goal is to serve the community,” Mark Rossini, marketing coordinator, said.
These items come from people or companies, Rossini said, and can range from windows and tiles and doors all the way to toilets and bathtubs—you may even be able to find a coffee maker or sewing machine or recycled paint.
Also, Rossini said that the goal is not to have any items there greater than 90 days, so the prices on the items keep dropping every 30 days to keep new stock coming into the store.
Light fixtures inside ReStore Westfield that were for sale.
And it is this sort of eclectic collection of items that is being summoned in the ReStore RePurpose Rivalry.
Zagorski said that the creations must be made out of at least 45 percent recyclable material or items that may end up in a landfill had they not been used. The contestants will catalogue the transformation of their creation, documenting it through pictures.
According to Zagorski, the repurposed items will be on display beginning in November, with tickets available to vote with when you visit the store. The top three vote-getters will receive gift certificates to the store.
For more information, including how to donate, visit restorewestfield.com or follow them on Facebook.
