One week after Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County put its Spike’s ReStore and headquarters building at 201 Johnson St. on the market with a local real estate firm, Habitat Bulloch executive director Kathy Jenkins reported that a buyer has been found, with the deal slated for a closing Oct. 7.

So a going out of business sale to clear the ReStore of remaining contents was set to begin immediately, with a schedule of discounts for home furniture, building materials and all other thrift store merchandise announced Wednesday. In stages for the store’s remaining Thursday through Saturday business days for the next three weeks, the discounts will be 50% off for Sept. 12-14, then 75% for Sept. 19-21, followed by a Sept. 26-28 “fill a bag for $5 sale” for relatively small items “or whatever makes sense with remaining inventory,” Jenkins said.

Habitat will also be selling the shelves and other equipment, which includes some clothing racks, a cash register and smaller items used in operating the store, for scheduled pickup times after the sale is completed.

As reported one week ago, the local Habitat affiliate’s board and administration placed the property, a 12,950-square-foot warehouse-type building with office on a 1.37-acre lot, up for sale with the Statesboro Properties real estate firm and its president, Nick Propps. The advertised asking price was $499,000, which Jenkins said was meant to be a price for relatively quick sale rather than a higher value Propps advised her might be the maximum.

By Wednesday, the building was “already under contract,” Jenkins said in an email. When phoned about the deal, she would not say whether the price offered by the buyer is exactly $499,000 or some other amount but said, “It should be pretty obvious if we got an offer that quick that it’s a good offer.”

In reply to a text message, Propps said he cannot disclose pricing until the real estate transaction closes. Neither he nor Jenkins would reveal the name of the pending buyer Wednesday. Jenkins indicated that the buyer is a woman not well known locally who sees the building as an investment property.

Struggling to build

Habitat for Humanity is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt Christian nonprofit organization whose mission is to create affordable housing, especially for low-income families who invest “sweat equity” volunteer labor and then repay mortgages.

Because Habitat’s traditional model for funding home construction is no longer working, selling the ReStore became a necessary business decision for Bulloch Habitat to continue its mission, and members of the board were eventually convinced, Jenkins said last week. The value of the warehouse-type building, just off West Main Street near downtown and the West District, had soared along with the cost of construction.

Completing a typical three- or four-bedroom home now costs Bulloch Habitat and each prospective homeowner about $110,000, up from about $60,000 when Jenkins started in the executive director role in 2018, she said.

This week she commented that she had “kicked the hornet’s nest” with last week’s announcement that the building was going on the market, since many people in the community, including Habitat volunteers and supporters, then expressed a desire to see Spike’s ReStore remain open. But Jenkins said she didn’t think she was clear enough in her message, because not just the store, but the existence of Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County itself was threatened unless the building was sold. The organization has three sites in Statesboro for additional homes but lacked the means to move forward with construction, she said.

“In selling our building, we will make as much as the ReStore would have made in ten years. The reality is that if we do not take this step, we will be closing the doors to Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County in the first quarter of 2025,” Jenkins wrote in a statement “on behalf of the … Board of Directors” posted Monday on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Habitat is turning to other means of funding homes, such as helping homebuyers obtain U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development loans rather than holding 25-year mortgages itself, she said.

A future ReStore?

Asked Wednesday if she had any message for those who hate to see the ReStore close, Jenkins said, “This is not forever. We are very hopeful that once we get a little more financially stable and hopefully the real estate market here gets a little more sorted out that we will be able to reopen in a different location.”

Her hope is for a retail storefront, but Habitat has so far been able to find an affordable one, despite the number of vacant storefronts in town, many belonging to one company, she said.

In the nearer future, Habitat Bulloch needs to find a place for its offices and is looking at a building on Savannah Avenue but has yet to sign a lease, Jenkins said.

The ReStore’s longtime manager Arliesha Mikell-Lovett, the store’s only employee, will not have a job with Habitat when the store closes.

“But she is such an asset to the community that I’m sure wherever she lands she’s going to be an asset to somebody,” Jenkins said.

Everyone else who works as the store is a volunteer, including Warren “Spike” Jones, now in his mid-90s, who led in founding the original Habitat Home Store here before Habitat nationally adopted the ReStore name, hence Spike’s ReStore.

After three longtime volunteers signed a letter to the editor that appeared in last week’s Statesboro Herald, current District 5 City Councilmember Shari Barr, who was a member of the original Habitat of Bulloch County board, also posted a letter Sunday on Facebook asking the current board to “prayerfully consider more options before selling.”

“I believe the Restore is much more than a fundraising vehicle, and that the ministry there serves many more community members than can ever qualify for a Habitat home,” she wrote.

Informed Wednesday that a sale is headed toward an Oct. 7 closing, Barr said she was sad to hear it.

“I don’t serve on the board so I’m not privy to all the details, and I’m sure the board members are conscientiously trying to fulfill the mission the way they understand it. …,” she said. “I’m sad that it went that way, but I’m sure things work together for good.”