Retail has proven a successful sustainability choice for the likes of Goodwill and the Salvation Army and quite a number of nonprofits. Usually in the guise of a thrift store, unwanted items donated by community citizens get prettied-up and put on a rack or shelf and sold for low to moderate prices - certainly prices lower than when the items were new. The profit margins are low but so are the operating expenses often kept low through volunteers or trainees. The model works.
But in more recent years "retailers" have had to make new choices. If one watches the Antiques Road Show, sometimes donated items turn-out to be far more valuable than what would be earned if put on the shelf. So smarter thrift store operators have started to "sift" through what comes through the bins and started using e-bay and other avenues to get higher prices that the retail operations might not generate. And folks like Goodwill have also found positive revenue generating outcomes for not-so-good-conditioned items in the rag business (where there is real money to be made).
But what should these vendors do when the choices aren't so clear? The following This Week News article highlights what I believe to be one of those times when the choices really aren't crystal clear. This Ohio nonprofit has a program where it distributes furniture to those without resources to make a purchase. But, in the process, managers have begun to think that some of what they receive, presumably through donations, would be better off for the organization and the folks who might otherwise benefit from such items, if they also operated a retail store. The managers are now making choices between what is given away and what is sold. I assume the managers have established criteria for separating between their items. The article suggests it will be a year before they can break even. I do wonder though: is this the intent of the donors? And how do the prospective recipients of free furniture feel knowing that they are now going to get the "leftover" furniture - the stuff that doesn't quite have the retail value of the stuff they won't receive. A tricky business this is, no? I suppose the same could be thought of when some folks pay a higher price for daycare or counseling than those who have lesser funds. Does everyone believe they are getting a service of equal value?
Partially the answers to these questions rest in good communications, aka, the message. Other answers also rest in strategy. For instance, Housing Works in New York City retails classy stuff donated by reasonably well-off people with the singular purpose of generating profits that will be used for mission. There is every intent to sell goods to folks who have resources. The bottom line: values matter in terms of goals and strategy.
FURNITURE BANK OF CENTRAL OHIO
Nonprofit adds retail component
Officials with the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio want to start selling sofas and coffee tables and recliners in order to keep giving away sofas and coffee tables and recliners.
It's called "social enterprise," and it's what nonprofit organizations have to do these days to survive, according to Steve Votaw, president of the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio.
"It's a new push in the nonprofit community," he said last week as work progressed on the social enterprise that will eventually assist this particular nonprofit to provide furniture to those in need.
A new thrift store, called Furniture With a Heart, will have a grand opening at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 15.
It's located in the former Rite Rug store and warehouse at 2165 Morse Road.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be followed by a short reception, after which the store will be open for business.
Those wishing to attend the ceremony must register onlineby April 12 or by calling 614-545-3833.
It was a year ago this week that officials with the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio visited a thrift store being operated in Cleveland to help that city's furniture bank with funding, according to Votaw. A committee of local board members studied similar operations around the country before deciding to settle on the model of the Cleveland Furniture Bank, he said.
After electing to go ahead with the thrift-store approach, Furniture Bank officials worked with NAI Ohio Equities to identify potential sites. The committee and personnel looked at a dozen possible spots before settling on the former carpet store.
"We fell in love with this location because it's in a commercial strip," Votaw said. "It serves our target market, which is folks who have an income level that they would buy thrift-store furniture."
Although the nonprofit organization is based on Yale Avenue in Franklinton, Votaw said a large percentage of clients live in the Northland area.
Kathy Welch will be the manager of Furniture With a Heart. She comes to the operation with a for-profit retail background.
"It's huge," she said of the new store, which was being stocked with furniture last week. "I'm not used to having so much space."
The store's hours will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Welch said. It will be closed on Sundays.
The store will initially have about a dozen employees, but that's expected to grow, she said. It will also be run by plenty of volunteers, according to Votaw, and offer volunteer opportunities for nearby residents.
At Furniture With a Heart, items too large for the normally small homes and apartments of clients and items that would fetch top dollar will be sold in order to extend the mission of the operation, according to Development Director Sarah Rooney.
That will involve less than 10 percent of the furniture donated to the furniture bank, she said.
The store will also carry some household items.
The Cleveland Furniture Bank thrift store brings in about $1 million a year, Votaw said.
"That's our goal, but not right away," he added.
For the first year of operation, officials hope Furniture With a Heart sales cover operating expenses, Votaw said.
"Then we hope that in year two, we can have a 20-percent margin," he said.
If Furniture With a Heart can begin generating $1 million a year like the thrift store in Cleveland, the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio could serve an additional 1,000 families, according to Votaw.
According to the organization's website, the The mission of the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio is to provide furniture to central Ohio families and people struggling with poverty and other "severe life challenges."
Rooney said Furniture Bank of Central Ohio officials originally hoped to have the thrift shop open by the first of the year, but then discovered that furniture sales were not permitted in the zoning for the former flooring store.
Northland Community Council development committee members voted 16-1 in December to recommend approval of a variance to permit the resale operation.