Home-improvement supplies on a budget

Call it a thrift store on steroids, or mecca for the multitudes of home-improvement show fans.

Step inside ReStore, at the corner of Wahsatch Avenue and Costilla Street, and you'll see why.

Rows of sinks in turquoise, pink, blue and beige. Dozens of doors - hollow-core, solid, screen. Cabinets finished and unfinished. Stacks of mirrors. Shelves packed with tiles, cans of paint, doorknobs and lights.

All donated, and all being sold at cheap prices with the proceeds benefitting Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps low-income families become homeowners.

Last year ReStore brought in about $219,000 for Habitat - enough to build two houses, said Development Director Jordan Bridwell.

"That's really a shot in the arm for us," Bridwell said.

ReStore opened in 2004 under the leadership of manager John Veteto, a third-generation contractor.

The store started out with 10,000 square feet in the building owned by sculptor Michael Garman, Veteto said.

Last fall ReStore tripled its size by expanding into another 19,000 square feet at the south end of the building, Veteto said.

Most of the merchandise is brand new, Veteto said. It comes from local stores getting rid of display items or discontinued merchandise and from builders with extra supplies.

Veteto remembers a heartshaped hot tub, beige, that a couple donated after winning it at a home-improvement show.

"It hung around for a while," Veteto said. "I used to say if it was pink or red it would have sold instantly."

A local contractor bought it for a house he built in Mexico, Veteto said.

The used items often come from people remodeling their homes, he said.

Many ReStore customers are landlords who need to fix up rental properties. Some crafty folks buy tiles and smash them to make mosaics. A Woodland Park couple makes furniture out of old doors.

The selection can change rapidly, Veteto said.

"If you see it today, you probably want to purchase it, because two days from now, two weeks from now, it probably won't be here," he said.

Last week ReStore offerings included a 3-by-3½-foot slab of granite for $115, a roll of 4-foot-wide brown carpet for $36.49, a $20 yellow bidet, a $200 oven and even the kitchen sink for a mere $15.

Michael Begovich is a fan. He usually stops by ReStore once a week while he fixes up a house he recently bought in south Colorado Springs.

Wednesday, Begovich came looking for an air filter, but he couldn't find the size he needed. In the past he's gone home with some good deals - including a nice set of used tools, he said.

Volunteers keep the store going, Veteto said. Last weekend, Whitney Electric donated its help to repair the parking lot lights that haven't worked since before ReStore moved in, he said.

Even Veteto's mother, 83-year-old Jayne Veteto, works the cash register every Wednesday. She gets to know the regulars, including one couple that said they remodeled their entire house with ReStore materials.

"Everything they used they bought here," she said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0274 or jennifer.wilson@gazette.com