Former Cornerstone of Hope to open as St. Vincent de Paul Store

By Chris Spangler

Fort Atkinson’s St. Vincent de Paul Store is opening the former Cornerstone of Hope outlet as its own Building Materials Division.

Starting Tuesday, Oct. 26, the nonprofit organization will be selling and accepting donations of gently used and surplus building furnishings. A grand opening will take place at a later date.

The store is located at 1525 Summit Drive, adjacent to St. Vincent de Paul’s thrift store. It began as the Habitat for Humanity Restore in March of 2010 and then changed to the Cornerstone of Hope Home Supply Outlet two or three years later. In 2017, it underwent an expansion that tripled its size.

However, the Janesville-based Christian organization closed its Fort Atkinson outlet on Sept. 20 with no prior notification. 

Local St. Vincent de Paul Society President Bill Roberts said that provided an opportunity for the thrift store to expand its service to the community.

“The word that we got is that they weren’t making money, and when we reviewed the financial reports for the last two years, (we saw) they were making money. They just weren’t making the money they expected,” Roberts said of the 4,500-square-foot Cornerstone of Hope store.

He noted that the Homeless Coalition of Fort Atkinson discussed possibly taking over the former Cornerstone facility, but when that did not pan out, St. Vincent de Paul looked into doing so itself, researching the idea with the Diocese of Madison.

“Some volunteers said, ‘Just take us over,’” Roberts recalled, adding that it just made sense. “We own the building; they’re part of us.”

Roberts met with the volunteers and former store manager, all of whom were on board, and then began negotiations with Cornerstone of Hope to work out a deal. 

“To me and to our board, it was a no-brainer that we were going to take them on,” Roberts said. “We were getting rent from them, but the fact is, bottom line, we were doing the same things. Our goal and the whole purpose of Cornerstone was the same thing: to help the poor and those in need in our community.”

St. Vincent de Paul assumed ownership Sunday, Oct. 17.

“We were able to keep all of the inventory and a good portion of tools,” Roberts said. “They took equipment that was labeled as Cornerstone’s. We’ve been able to fill that in.”

Cornerstone of Hope had a semi trailer in which it stored donated building materials. Roberts said St. Vincent de Paul is in the market for a replacement trailer for storage.

He reported that new signs have been ordered and the store will open next week with new hours: Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

If the number of volunteers grows, store hours might be expanded, Roberts said.

Eventually, St. Vincent’s Building Materials Division will be accepting payment with debit and credit cards, as well as cash and checks from customers it knows.

The Building Materials Division will retain the Cornerstone of Hope telephone number — (920) 568-9345  — once it gets up and running. 

“We’re looking at it as another department of St. Vincent de Paul,” Roberts said.

Rick Bleecker will be staying on as store manager, with Carrie Smith becoming general manager of both the Building Materials Division and St. Vincent de Paul thrift store, which was founded in 2007.

In addition, all of 14 regular volunteers, as well as some seasonal ones, are staying on. 

“For the volunteers, it is pretty much all turnkey,” Gary Hartman, former Cornerstone of Hope board member, said. 

Roberts pointed out the importance of customers seeing familiar faces and being helped by volunteers with construction knowledge when they come through the door.

“We wanted all of the volunteers. We’re not coming in to reinvent the wheel,” he said. “We’re just going to be their support agency. We’re all in it to help the poor.”

Smith noted that St. Vincent de Paul and Cornerstone of Hope always had worked well together.

As an example, Hartman said that often when Cornerstone volunteers were picking up an appliance at a home, a donor would ask them to take a couch or other furniture, as well.

“We would say that we don’t take furniture, but St. Vincent’s does, and we would deliver it to them,” Hartman said.

Adding the new Building Materials Division to St. Vincent de Paul means that a few types of merchandise will be shifted between the two stores.

“For us, we’re not going to duplicate selling stuff. The appliance, tools and hardware that we used to have at St. Vincent will be coming over here,” said Roberts. “They had kitchen stuff and furniture. That will be going over there.

“We’re thrilled to have them part of us and to keep this open,” he added. “Our goal was to get it done as quickly as possible and to make it turnkey.”

Because there is no connecting door between the two stores, he noted, customers will have to pay for their purchases at each individual site.

The acquisition of the Building Materials Division comes as the St. Vincent de Paul Store continues to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As with many businesses, neither St. Vincent nor Cornerstone of Hope was open the first month-and-a-half to two months after the coronavirus pandemic started in March 2020. When they did reopen, many volunteers and potential shoppers were not ready to return.

At the same time, people who stayed at home during the pandemic found time to clean out closets and attics, filling the thrift store’s warehouse with donations.

“People were cleaning house, getting rid of the clutter,” Smith said. “We got a lot of nice stuff. People were downsizing, changing how they look at things and what they keep and don’t keep. And people don’t want to throw things out. They want to donate them so they will be used.”

Roberts said the St. Vincent de Paul Store was in a unique situation when the pandemic began.

“The year before COVID, we remodeled the store,” he said. “We were closed down for another two months before that. And then to come out of that and next year’s there’s COVID …

“So we were in a difficult situation and we’re still not where we used to be pre-COVID, but things are starting to get better,” he added.

The St. Vincent de Paul Store remains in great need of volunteers. In fact, it is launching a drive for new helpers or groups interested in night hours.

“They can come in after work or school. We always have stuff we can have volunteers do, and for young people, this is a great way to get community service hours,” he said.

Persons interested in volunteering may call Roberts at (920) 563-5343.

He also pointed out that in addition to the pandemic, the closure of Shopko has affected the thrift store.

“Since Shopko closed, we’ve seen an increase in traffic. People are looking for kitchen items. We’ve looked at adding some new things, like socks, underwear and kitchen utensils, because we don’t have a place in Fort to buy them right now.”

It’s all about providing what the community needs, he emphasized.

“The store exists for the ministry, and that’s to help the poor,” Roberts said. “That’s the foundation of St. Vincent de Paul and that’s what the Building Materials Division will be operating under, as well.”