North Platte Area Habitat for Humanity
A little bit of luck and fortuitous timing made all the difference for North Platte Area Habitat for Humanity in the hire of the new Habitat ReStore Manager recently.
“ACE Hardware has been a long-time supporter and partner of Habitat for Humanity in North Platte,” said Executive Director Dalene Skates, “so when their manager decided to leave his position with them, he called to share the news with us. I suggested we might have an opportunity for him if he was interested. Luckily for us, he was.”
Doug Wallace, a nine-year veteran of retail sales, jumped at the chance to get involved with this new project. “I am excited to be involved with the Habitat ReStore, especially from the ground up like this,” said Wallace. “I know retail sales and I know customer service but have never been involved in this side of the construction business. It is a big learning curve but I am having the time of my life with it.”
North Platte Area Habitat for Humanity recently purchased the building at 614 N Sycamore and is in the process of renovating the former Carhart Lumber warehouse location into the new retail setting. Wallace will be working directly with contractors as the building undergoes a very large remodel. Then, once the store is open, he will manage the Habitat ReStore for the affiliate. Wallace is also currently in charge of the donation collections that will eventually fill the store. “We’ve been accepting donations for several months now and plan to have plenty of amazing finds for our customers when the store opens later this year.”
In the future, Wallace will be looking to hire an assistant manager that will run the donation receiving area so he can concentrate on working with and training the volunteers who will work in the store. “Doug has the gift of gab that has served him well during his tenure at ACE Hardware,” said John Hales, Habitat Board of Directors President. “He created a friendly and service-oriented environment at ACE that we are confident he will bring to the ReStore. He is a true find and we feel fortunate to have him steering this ship with us.”
Doug Wallace, and his wife Tina, moved to North Platte in January of 1999 with their children to work at Great Plains Regional Medical Center as a Radiologic Technologist. After seven years he was offered a job at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He returned, with his family, to North Platte in 2009 to work as a traveling Technologist, then retired from the medical field in 2012 after 25 years. Following a short stint at Wal Mart, he accepted a position at Ace Hardware where he was soon promoted to Store Manager, holding that position until just this summer. “I'm excited about this new adventure with Habitat for Humanity because I feel that my management skills will be very beneficial to the new Restore,” Wallace says. “I enjoy being around people and feel my skills as a leader will benefit in the training of the volunteers and employees at the ReStore.”
Wallace has been a personally been long-time supporter of North Platte Area Habitat for Humanity himself. In 2017 he competed in the Mr. Habitat fund-raising competition as Mr. Hardware and was Mr. November in the calendar which boasted record sales that year. This was during a very difficult time in his life having lost his wife to lung cancer. “My friends, family and my association with Habitat for Humanity helped me through that time. I am excited to now be a part of the organization that helped me through that.”
There are currently 912 Habitat ReStores across 684 affiliates. North Platte Area Habitat for Humanity received the go ahead from Habitat International earlier this year to open a store in this service area. The ReStore has set a target date ahead of the Christmas holiday for the opening of the store and hope to meet that goal with the help of the community and the new ReStore manager, Doug Wallace. For more information about the Habitat ReStore, or to make a donation, you may call the Habitat for Humanity office at (308) 534-6251.