John Biggs at Habitat for Humanity as New ReStore Manager

John Biggs is the new ReStore Manager for the San Bernardino Area Habitat for Humanity. The ReStore is the Habitat for Humanity’s deep-discount home improvement store that sells building materials, appliances, home accessories and gently used furniture to the general public from 23,000 square feet of space in Redlands. “The ReStore sells the donated items to the general public at a fraction of the retail price,” said Biggs. All proceeds are used to fund the Habitat for Humanity San Bernardino Area, Inc. efforts to rehabilitate old homes or construct new homes for needy families. “We are fortunate to have John Biggs join us at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. He knows how to make ReStores work well and he really understands retail sales," said Dennis Baxter, Executive Director of the San Bernardino Area Habitat for Humanity. Biggs started his career with Habitat for Humanity in October of 2009 when he joined the Orange County ReStore first as warehouse manager, then assistant store manager, and finally store manager. “John has four years of experience as a ReStore warehouse manager, assistant manager and manager at the 23,000-square-foot Garden Grove and the 16,000-square-foot Santa Ana ReStores in Orange County. He really knows this business and how to increase customer service, donations and the look of our store,” said Baxter. “I did research on the ReStore before they hired me in 2009. I knew Habitat for Humanity built homes but I didn’t know anything about the ReStore. The more I learned, the more the ReStore really caught my attention because of how much the ReStore gives back to the community,” said Biggs. “I liked the ReStore because of what a positive impact it has on the mission of Habitat for Humanity and I wanted to be a part of that: giving back to the community,” he added. Biggs moved to Upland in 2011 so their family could live in a home instead of an apartment. The family could not afford a home in Orange County. “It was a long commute from Santa Ana to Upland but worth it," said Biggs. His wife is a student at Mt. San Antonio College studying fine arts. “When I heard of the opportunity to work in the Redlands ReStore, I was excited. I asked my executive director if it was okay to apply for the position. She knew how long the commute was, so she agreed,” said Biggs. Now Biggs's commute to work is 30 minutes—not two hours. A career in retail began in high school for Biggs. The day he turned 16, he found his first job working at Champ Sports where he worked for two years. “I wanted my own money,” he said. Biggs has also worked at Footlocker, Olive Garden and Red Brick Pizza. The pizza parlor was across the street from a high school where they had huge traffic for lunch. It taught Biggs the need for preparation to be able to keep up with the daily lunch rush. It was at Red Brick Pizza where Biggs earned his first assistant manager position. Then Biggs moved to Game Stop for two years where he worked himself up to store manager. His last job before the Santa Ana ReStore was three years at Big 5 Sporting Goods as assistant manager. “At Big 5, they really helped me grow as a professional with a lot of training in human resources, merchandising and customer relations,” said Biggs. After the birth of his first child and before he joined Habitat, Biggs was a stay-at-home dad for two months. “That was a real eye-opener for me. It’s a lot of work taking care of a newborn baby.” Biggs has implemented new changes at the ReStore. He changed the layout of the store to make products easier to find and gets the new products on the floor as quickly as possible. Biggs is also spending more time asking area businesses and community members for donations for the ReStore. He has secured donations from several local timeshare companies. Biggs is changing a few things at the ReStore. The first is to sell used TVs from a TV island in the store with 10 to 15 good used TVs running at all times. “We get a lot of donated TVs. In the past we recycled them, but we were missing an opportunity. I decided to sell the working TVs and recycle those that don’t work. The new income will help put more families into affordable homes,” said Biggs. He will also keep running the highly popular “Deal of the Day” and “Deal of the Week." The deals are available to people that Like the ReStore on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/SBReStore. Biggs invites do-it-yourselfers, homeowners, property maintenance professionals, property managers and the public to visit the Habitat for Humanity ReStore Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 25948 Business Center Drive in Redlands. “You will love the deals you find on building materials, appliances, home accessories, and gently used furniture,” said Biggs.