Habitat for Humanity Boutique and Sequim office

Location: 213 E. Washington St.

Opening (tentative): Mid-November, to-be-announced

Hours (tentative): 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays

Store contact: 360-681-6780

Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County looks to expand its fundraising enterprise with a boutique set to open mid-November in downtown Sequim.

The nonprofit also is moving its Sequim office from 350 West Washington St., to 231 East Washington St., where the new boutique will open.

Colleen Robinson, executive director of Habitat or Humanity of Clallam County, said opening a store in Sequim has been a long-time coming.

While there also is a Habitat store in Port Angeles, Robinson said both stores are all part of the same business and will not be in competition with each other.

“We’re one big happy family,” Robinson said.

The boutique is about 1,000 square feet and will have donated furniture, home decor, household goods, jewelry and more for sale.

She describes the new Sequim store as a “vintage boutique” tentatively open from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

All proceeds from store sales go to the nonprofit’s mission of providing affordable housing in Clallam County and in Sequim supporting neighborhood revitalization.

With the opening of a new store, Robinson said Habitat also is launching an intern program that trains high school students in retail, giving them experience and skills to put on a resume.

“I’m very excited about this opportunity for students,” Robinson said. “We’re giving a hand up, not a hand out.”

Robinson said students can earn school credit, learn soft skills, gain knowledge in retail and funding a nonprofit, and receive a certification from Habitat at the end of their internship.

“It’s training a workforce,” Robinson said. “Let’s give (students) some experience.”

Habitat also is in the process of hiring a part-time store supervisor who will manage the store and train students, Robinson said.

Habitat must present the intern program to the Sequim School Board for approval at the next board meeting on Nov. 5, Robinson said, and the program should be open to students by the second semester of the school year in January 2019.

The boutique also will feature a “dot” program where the store will mark down an item after 30 days of it being on the floor, and if an item has been in the store for 90 days it will be sent to the Port Angeles store for new items to come in.

Donated inventory for the boutique must be taken to the Habitat store at 728 E. Front St. in Port Angeles, Robinson said; donations cannot be accepted at the Sequim store.

Habitat has a truck available to transport donated items to the store in Port Angeles and interested donors can call 360-417-7543 or email customerservice@habitatclallam.org to arrange a donation pick up.

To learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County, visit www.habitatclallam.org.

Habitat for Humanity’s new store, at 213 E. Washington St., sells everything from donated furniture, home goods, jewelry and more. The proceeds from the store go toward Habitat’s mission of neighborhood revitalization in the Sequim area. Sequm Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins