Treasure hunters, there is bounty at two recently opened Everett shops. With antique and artsy furniture, upscale displays and other unique finds, the stores defy stereotypes sometimes associated with secondhand merchandise. Both shops also support major local nonprofits.
ReNewWorks Home and Decor opened in September at 3331 Broadway. It’s in a building acquired in the past year by HopeWorks Social Enterprises, an affiliate of Housing Hope. HopeWorks runs several businesses and offers job training to help people become self-sufficient.
The store, in a space beautifully renovated with volunteer help, is to hold a grand opening from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday. There will be refreshments and prize drawings.
First-time visitors might be surprised by the inventory, from an 1880s English sideboard to a sleek mid-century modern Barcelona chair. Items are donated or sold on consignment, and the store has some new handcrafted goods.
“We’re not a thrift store,” said Kandi Graber, ReNewWorks program manager. “People come in and just stand there. ‘Is this stuff used?’ That’s the question I get over and over.”
The Opportunity Shoppe, at 6915 Evergreen Way, is Everett’s other new outlet for premium vintage merchandise. Also opened last month, the store in the former Pacific Wine &Kitchen building supports Senior Services of Snohomish County.
While the ReNewWorks shop specializes in decor, the Opportunity Shoppe fills a different need. It carries some furniture but also has rooms filled with clothing, shoes and jewelry. There are dishes and other housewares, children’s items, books and DVDs.
“We go round and round with how to describe it — unique, boutique, it’s very, very different,” said Nancy Van Overbeke, the Opportunity Shoppe manager. She has also run a Snohomish antique store, Red Rooster Antiques and Consignment.
Janet Duncan is development director for Senior Services of Snohomish County. The agency that provides Dial-A-Ride, Meals on Wheels and other services embraced the idea of a shop to raise needed money, Duncan said. The Opportunity Shoppe has two paid employees, one of them half-time, and there are plans to train about 30 volunteers.
The shop’s landlord is Dewey McCandlis, who had a posh hair salon in the building before he started Pacific Wine &Kitchen. Duncan said the Opportunity Shoppe goal is to earn at least $12,000 a month.
“We really depend on people to donate the good items,” Duncan said. Some clothing has come in still with original price tags. Along with paintings, glassware and furniture, there are mink stoles and designer shoes.
Some merchandise has come from seniors who are downsizing. “It’s all the stuff their kids don’t want,” Duncan said.
On Broadway, ReNewWorks Home and Decor is just the beginning of what Ed Petersen, HopeWorks Social Enterprises executive director, said is a multi-phase project. The organization calls the site HopeWorks Station, which is near Everett Station.
With the support of 26 investors, HopeWorks acquired not only the building at Broadway and 34th Street but 30,000 square feet of vacant land just north of it. The total cost was $1.6 million.
If financing comes together as planned, HopeWorks Station will one day be a complex with 100 units of transitional housing on upper floors and the agency businesses at the street level. Along with the decor store, HopeWorks runs landscaping and irrigation businesses. They offer internships and potential jobs for people being helped by Housing Hope. That agency runs low-income housing sites and programs all over Snohomish County.
People who helped with the building’s transformation will be honored Thursday with an appreciation event at the store, Petersen said. While being recognized, they might get the urge to shop. The ReNewWorks store was modeled after My Sister’s Attic upscale consignment stores, based in Phoenix, he said.
Graber is proud of the inventory — folksy garden art, furniture from the “Mad Men” era, handcrafted candles, and century-old tables and chairs. She is prouder still of the goal. Some consignment customers donate their profits when they learn about HopeWorks, Graber said.
“And a portion of our proceeds go back to Housing Hope,” she said. “The mission is to end poverty in Snohomish County.”
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com
Grand openings
ReNewWorks Home and Decor, which sells gently used home furnishings and gifts, will host a grand opening from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at 3331 Broadway, Everett. The store supports HopeWorks Social Enterprises, an affiliate of Housing Hope. More info: www.renewwrks.com.
The Opportunity Shoppe, an estate and thrift store that benefits Senior Services of Snohomish County, is open at 6915 Evergreen Way, Everett. Grand opening Nov. 5 through Dec. 6. More infor: www.sssc.org/opportunity-shoppe-estate-vintage-thrift.
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