Habitat for Humanity officially opened its newest ReStore in Franklin on Friday.
The new resale shop and donation center occupies a former Gander Mountain, 6939 S. Riverwood Blvd., just off South 27th Street, and, like the two other area retail centers, carries a wide range of gently used furniture, appliances, cabinets and other home goods.
It’s also a good place to nab vintage finishes and other items. Look here, here and here to see some of the amazing stuff they’re rescued from going to landfills.
I've seen everything from complete vintage Wisconsin tavern bar and back bar combos to hand-crafted Victorian details to stunning decorative doors and windows removed from lakefront mansions ... the kind of stuff you can rarely just go out and buy anywhere.
“We couldn’t be more excited about opening our newest ReStore in Franklin,” said Habitat Executive Director Brian Sonderman at the event, which included Franklin Mayor Steve Olson, South Suburban Chamber President Doug Milinovich and other Habitat officials.
“Whether you shop, donate, or volunteer, ReStore is a fantastic way to support Habitat’s critical work to make the cost of home affordable for local families in need.”
The sale of these objects helps fund Habitat’s work to build safe and affordable homes in the community.
In addition – with an eye on this week’s Earth Day celebrations – the three local ReStore locations are extremely green, promoting the reuse of perfectly good objects that might otherwise be tossed into area landfills.
You can donate your items using the shop’s drive-thru donation point. Habitat will also pickup donated items for free.
There is also a deconstruction team that will go on location to remove salvageable items. Read more about that here and here.
The store is open Tuesdays-Fridays, 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., and Saturdays, 10-4.
Learn more about what the shops accept, how you can arrange a pickup or contact the deconstruction team at milwaukeerestore.org.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
