Great store and staff ,ever changing items and products very easy to shop and find things I didn't know I needed

Terrible customer service worker was mad and giving attitude when we asked him a question he said he will come back and he we wait 7 minutes and he never came back he has blonde curly hair and is fat. read more

I needed doorbell wire yesterday. But didn't need 100' or even 10'. Doing some repairs it's wise to have surplus materials and other little things might be something you'll never need to do again. The Restore is a great source for such things. Often it serves both of these purposes. After perusing this store I never found the wire I needed, and since I literally only required 6", I was hugely disappointed that I came to the conclusion I wasted 30 minutes and still needed to buy a 6" length of wire, in the form of a 50' spool. But in this search I did come across something I didn't yet know I needed. Of all the HFH Restore locations I've visited over the years, this Baraboo Wi. location is by far the vastest collection of treasures! Organized somehow different, and better than any of the Madison stores, as well as locations in other Wisconsin cities, and even the ones I've visited in Washington. I suppose it was just that this store wasn't a "store front" or typical wide open warehouse building that made it different. Since it was all dispersed throughout many rooms it seemed somehow organized and compartmentalized. Different rooms for related items. The part that mostly pleased me was after returning to the wiring required, I discovered I also needed a doorbell chime, and in my earlier visit I had come across 2 brand new chimes and they were 1/3 the price at a new retail outlet. Which incidentally, when I was force to purchase the spool of wire, I was told that that store (farm and fleet) no longer stocked doorbell parts! So the wasted money spent on the wire was offset by the hugely discounted chime I returned an hour later to buy. But as I consider the real important factor that this business is supposed to fill another purpose: assistance in community by providing employment in some aspects, work training as well. But as applies to me in my frequent visits it also needs to be selling items, usually used, always donated and hopefully fully functional, but the real key is at a reasonable price. While I found my chime to be reasonably priced, nearly everything I looked at was grossly over priced as regards to actual value. This store is essentially only a thrift store serving the needs of home owner type people who need inexpensive and generally not new items to simply serve a repair type task. The pricing was truly barely less than menards or Home Depot, in many instances, and no returns or guarantees means you either throw away or resonate junk you don't or can't use. Perhaps why the item was there in the first place. read more

I read the one and only review and thought how absurd! It is a second hand store with donated items. This is not a Home Depot or Menards. The atmosphere in the store is fine. They are constantly getting in items and trying to arrange them appropriately for the space they have. They don't know what is going to be donated so they have to make space for these different items. Maybe this was the only location (which is in a good location) when they were looking for a space. They could use a bigger building since more people are donating instead of throwing their items in the dump but a new building may not be cost effective. Some items do seem to be priced high but if we don't think it's a good deal we don't buy it or wait for the price to go down. The volunteers are doing a good job and working hard. Maybe the one reviewer could donate some time and ideas to make this a better place to shop for themselves. My husband and myself enjoy shopping there and wondering what new things have been donated and we go there often. read more

The Baraboo ReStore is a prime example of a failed attempt at a great idea. If you are unfamiliar with ReStores, the concept is to sell second hand, donated household items in order to raise money to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. The building the store is in used to be an automotive dealer with a maintenance garage. The outside of the building has recently been renovated, but the old service door on the front of the building is covered with nothing more than plywood. Though the front of the building has a fresh look, but it appears nothing more than facade to lure in customers. The parking lot is in poor shape. Only half of it is paved and the asphalt is in disrepair. The unpaved portion is taken up by at least two semi trailers and dumpsters. Though there is space to park on the unpaved lot, it is not recommended as it is covered with garbage and bits of broken glass. The rear of the store is where you go to drop off your donations, though it is usually difficult to find a place close to the door to park as the little space that is available is usually taken up with donations or has the donation pick-up truck parked there. There are outdoor materials scattered around the back of the store and has no logical order. Like the items inside the store, the quality of the items is poor and made worse by the fact that they are left exposed to the elements. The interior of the store of the store still closely resembles the old auto dealership. Little work has been done in order to improve the run down condition. There are still oil stains on the concrete in what used to be the old garage. The old show room is in dilapidated condition and is a depressing shopping atmosphere, at best. The store layout is jumbled and unorganized. It appears as though the management has taken little time to think about the flow of the store and clearly has little pride for their facility. Items are of poor quality and are grossly overpriced. The store is in the habit of charging sometimes hundreds of dollars for donated items that would have been better off going to the dump. Even when the store offers 25% off everything in the inventory, the merchandise is still ridiculously overpriced. It is abundantly clear that the management both at the ReStore and the Habitat office are driven either by desperation generated by lack of funding or simple greed. Historically, the Habitat office in the area only builds one, sometimes two, small houses a year in the area. The materials and labor for these houses are donated through volunteers and donors. This begs the question as to where the money that is being generated from this store are going to? It would seem as though the funds are either indeed being funneled into the housing projects they are supposed to be supporting or they are going towards supporting a failing ReStore and/or Habitat affiliate. It is recommended that because of overpricing, poor store condition, and mismanagement that you avoid shopping here. read more

In answer to THEO, from Reedsburg.I work at Habitat for Humanity restore. You sure do have alot of critisism, for the store.We put in TONS of hours of work, to make the store look good.The items that are donated, are in usable shape. AND alot of the items are bought, by our HEAD Manager. As for the condition of the building, Do you know, how very much it cost, to fix up the store?What we get, is NOT ALL,donated.We have to pay for the upgrades.It takes time, and Money.Maybe you could come down, and donate some of your time, and help improve the store. We are constantly rearranging the furniture, and other items.We have been improving the look of the store, both inside and out.We don't have money to change how the floors look. I have chased the mop around, in the winter time. To keep the dirty floors clear of the water, that comes in on the boots and shoes. We don't want anyone to fall, and get hurt.I am 67 yrs old, and do my best to help keep the store looking good. The management team, is always trying to do things, to improve the condition of our store.I am so very proud of our store. Everyone that works there,puts in alot of time to keep things moving.As for the prices of the items that are brought in. We go online, to check what the items sell for. If they are new or used. And price according to what it sells for. We try to keep it down, to please alot of our customers.And, we get TONS, of compliments, on how good the store looks.We decorate the furniture etc, to make it like your own home.We want it to be very welcoming, to everyone. And we do have alot of repeat customers.With todays prices, when you can save a penny here or there. That's what we try to do, to keep things moving.Apparently you only look for the bad in things.Have you ever had to use HAND-ME-DOWNS? I was born in the fifties. And times were hard.We were more than happy to use hand me downs.We couldn't afford new clothes.So, before you continue to cut down our store. Maybe you should walk in our shoes, and try to make everyone happy.I've worked in retail for years.And you never get praised from customers, on the sweat and toil that you put in.So, I'll continue to put in the sweat, and hours, to help make our store welcome for all.Please come in and see the improvements we have made, to the store.Maybe you could donate some money, to help improve our store.It is a tax write off.We all try our best to please our customers. But, no matter how you try. You can't please them all.So come on in, and look at our store through our eyes. We see it as helping to build our Habitat Homes. read more

The Baraboo ReStore improves steadily. It is exactly what it says it is. In response to a previous disparaging review:The concept as i understand it, was less the selling of second-hand household furnishings which other non-profits already do, and more to keep "heavier" material OUT of landfill that could be repurposed or reused. Yes the store lacks glam, but we are, after all, shopping used materials, often for projects of construction/remodeling nature, and looking for furniture items of USE to us...that matters far more than highly polished floors and walls. The store has been better and better organized over the past year and the staff are very helpful. We have seen some items that seemed overpriced, but these are usually true antiques whose value i am unqualified to guess. For the most part the items we have procured from there are GREAT VALUES. We have shopped there often and will continue to do so, urging friends and neighbors to do likewise. read more