Aurora resident Juana Perez likes to shop nearly every day at the Hope Chest resale store at 36 N. Lincoln Ave. in Aurora.
“I always come to shop here because the economy is still hard, and I can buy good, quality things,” Perez said. “I come here at least three to four times a week, and even though I’ve visited other places, this resale store is convenient to get to, and it’s the best.”
Following three weeks of giving the store a fresh coat of paint at night and then closing it for five days to replace the old flooring, Wayside Ministries in Aurora celebrated the grand reopening of its resale store Tuesday.
James Lukose, executive director for Wayside Ministries, said “dollars were stretched” to complete the renovation.
“The cost value of what we did here is about $35,000, but for anyone else in the private sector, the work would be worth anywhere from $80,000 to $100,000 in total,” Lukose said. “Our volunteers allowed us to stretch those dollars by using their time and talent.”
Lukose said the timing of the renovation was driven by securing the funds as well as by the desire to update the resale store “to better fit in with the $11 million building” where it now resides after the new store opened in August of last year.
“This store has been in operation for over six decades, while our ministry at large dates back to 1928,” he said. “We wanted something that looked compatible with the rest of the building.”
Steve Wise, operations manager for Wayside, said the store site had not received a makeover for at least 20 years and looked “tired and worn out.”
“We had residents in our men’s program come in at night, and they spray-painted the ceiling and walls,” Wise said. “We did the work at night so the store could remain open during the day. We’ve checked, and our prices are, at a minimum, half of what other resale stores charge, and all the proceeds go to our ministry.”
Eleazar Cervantes, a member of the men’s program working on the floor of the store, also lent a hand in the renovation process and said that after four months on the job, he has left his imprint on the building.
“I was here before the renovation, and now that it’s finished — this for me was a labor of love,” he said. “I can look around and know my handprint is now a part of this place, and for me, that’s priceless.”
Cervantes said reactions from customers who have stopped in since the renovation was completed are mixed.
“Some people walk in with a look of shock and awe on their face, while others say they like the way it was before,” he said. “To me, it’s beautiful, and I treasure having had a hand in it.”
Perez said she is relieved “to not see the dingy floor or worry about something falling from the ceiling above her.” She added that she is hoping to do some Christmas shopping there later in the season.
“I hope the store will get some toys or games,” she said.
Rosa Torres, of Aurora, said she has been coming to the resale store for 24 years and said its goods “are good and very reasonably priced.”
“You can get brand-new clothing here, and I like to come over nearly every day, as it gets me out of feeling depressed,” she said. “I’m ecstatic about the clothes here, and I’m also on the hunt for pots and pans and cooking gear.”
Cervantes said Torres is one of the staff’s favorite customers.
“We sell pop here in the store, and every day when Rosa comes, she buys two or three of us a Coke,” he said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
