With a line of 25 people waiting for the doors to open on the morning of Wednesday, May 6th, ReStore was back in business.
Shuttered to the public for over a month due to concern for the well-being of customers and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nevada County Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore general manager, Mary Gill, said it was nice to get back into the flow of life. “It just feels good to be back, to see customers happy that we’re here, to bring back a little normalcy.”
Customers seemed to feel the same way.
“I’m so happy. I’ve been missing my ReStore fix!” said one customer, smiling beneath his face covering.
“It just feels good to have one more step toward normalcy,” Another customer said as she perused the furniture section of the store.
As a hardware/home improvement store, ReStore is considered an essential business (according to Governor Newsom’s shelter in place order) and could have remained open during the height of the pandemic. However, out of respect for the health and well-being of ReStore employees and customers, the decision was made to temporarily close.
A core staff came to work every day, though, and invested their time in cleaning, sanitizing, sorting, culling and organizing the entire store. When customers walk in they’ll discover new sectional signage and a clean look that, Mary hopes, will provide an even better customer experience. “We were able to re-think how we organized and presented – especially in our construction materials area. So far customers seem to be pleased with the changes.”
Perhaps the biggest and most noticeable changes are the measures taken to best ensure customers and employees’ health concerns are the priority. All staff members will wear face coverings; shopping carts are sanitized after every usage; and donations are thoroughly sanitized before hitting the floor.
Customers are required to wear a face covering and practice social distancing recommendations, and only 40 customers are permitted to be in the store at any given time. Donations are accepted at the store, and pick-up of donations will soon return.
“We wanted to do everything possible to adhere to current health and safety practices,” Says Lorraine Larson, Nevada County Habitat’s Executive Director. “The staff has worked hard to make ReStore as safe and as inviting as possible. I’m proud of the work they’ve done.”
The current hours of operation are Tuesday-Saturday, 9am-6pm, with donations being accepted 10am-4pm. Donation pickup service will re-commence on Wednesday, May 20th.
For more information, please contact ReStore at 530-274-3761, or visit our ReStore page.