Faithventure Forum

When a faith venture starts to look for commercial real estate, it's going to be messy. At least that's been my experience over the last 11 years at Belay Enterprises . For some reason--and it has something to do with combining faith and real estate--I have all sorts of crazy stories about trying to secure space for our various projects. There's the time we started moving into a new warehouse for Bud's Warehouse after completing a lease agreement only to discover that one of the neighboring tenants had a first right of refusal on the property. And he wasn't a very nice person. So we moved on and discovered an even better space which we still inhabit to this day. Over the years at Bud's Warehouse, I have often joked that we have made a habit of preceding future loft developments. We have had to move from two prior warehouse locations because of the development of lofts. Bud’s moved from another location because of the development of a business complex....

Our talented intern Andy Magel just completed a short introductory video on Bud's Warehouse . It provides an excellent overview of our home improvement store and job-training program. Introduction to Bud's Warehouse from Andy Magel on Vimeo .

When you work in an old warehouse from the early 20th century, dust and grime become your constant companions. We wage a daily battle trying to keep our workspace clean often with very little success. One weapon in our arsenal is the trusty vacuum cleaner. Unfortunately, Belay seems to be a place where vacuum cleaners come to die. I was reminded of this fact this afternoon when my assistant let out a yelp after the vacuum she was using started spewing dust like an erupting volcano. A few years ago, I remember purchasing a new vacuum cleaner from the local Target store. I returned to Bud’s Warehouse and spent the next hour putting it together. I then left for a meeting. About an hour later I returned. As I was walking through the parking lot, I noticed a customer carrying out my brand new vacuum cleaner. “Where are you going with that?” I asked. “I just bought it.” “But it’s not for sale.” “Yes, it was and I have a receipt for it right here.” I kindly explained to her that the sale wa...

Last week, we found out some surprising news from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission . On August 14, 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was signed into law. This federal legislation arose from the recent discovery of imported toys with high lead content. The law mandates that starting on February 10, 2009, it is a criminal offense to sell children’s products with lead content higher than 660 parts per million. This level drops to 300 parts per million after August 14, 2009. In effect, such children’s products are considered hazardous waste and can result in criminal and civil penalties. Also, as part of the act, it becomes immediately unlawful to sell products that have been recalled. Last week, as the ramifications of this act sank in, a number of news stories ( 9News and Wall Street Journal.com ) appeared in local and national news outlets. They warned about the possibility of this legislation having the unintended effect of closing numerous ...

After my recent post on how home improvement thrift stores tend to be counter-cyclical with the economy, a Chronicle of Philanthropy blog directed readers to an article on new problems facing retail thrift stores. A story in The New York Times shared about how thrift store chains like the Salvation Army and Goodwill were experiencing an increase in sales similar to our experience at Bud’s Warehouse . But unlike our home improvement thrift store, they were also seeing a sizable drop in product donations. Some were worried about the possibility of running out of product later in the year. At the Salvation Army, sales were up by 5% to 15% with donations down by 10% to 25%. Goodwill was seeing increases of 6% in sales but a donation decline of 5%-10%. The organizations pointed to several factors contributing to these trends. Like at Bud’s, the slow economy has caused consumers to seek low-cost bargains at thrift stores. But at the same time, individuals with extra clothing have increasin...

Everyday in the news there are stories of non-profit organizations struggling with a decline in donations. The current housing crisis has impacted giving patterns to many charities forcing some to cut programs and lay-off staff. In the midst of this economic environment, thrift store faith ventures may provide one of the few refuges from a down-turn. Over the last ten years, Bud's Warehouse has experienced some of its best sales results during times of economic troubles. In the months following 9/11, Bud's had a period of sales growth. We are seeing that same pattern occur right now in the midst of the housing crisis. It seems that thrift stores provide a hedge against the economy because of their inherent countercyclical nature...especially thrift stores that specialize in home improvement. When individuals are feeling pinched economically, they are more likely to shop at a discount store. At Bud's, we've also seen a counter-intuitive rise in product donations. People ...