Hello Matsu Valley Rebuild Supporters!
It has been just over eight months since MVR opened its doors. We have expanded three times since then, the most recent (just weeks ago) being the addition of a shipping container out back that was generously donated by Lynden Freight Shipping and Logistics. It provided additional shopping space for outdoor items such as doors, landscaping items, windows and stove pipe. It is full. Business has been good, traffic has picked up significantly in the past few months; people are excited for the store and what we are doing. With the container we have over 2000 square feet and it is still pretty tight.
We now have a website! Matsuvalleyrebuild.com has some great information about the store and the plans for the future as well as some other info, like our first update from June that details the beginning of MVR…check it out.
December is around the corner and winter brings unknown territory. With outside building projects slowing down there is inevitably a shift in the traffic pattern coming to the store. In an attempt to overcome this we will be stepping up our advertising, working to shift some views and ideas on reuse and repurposing and hope to soon offer some small workshops at the store. We will be approaching several methods of advertising, though one avenue that has proved to be quite useful is word-of-mouth. People hear and trust the word of their friends, family, neighbors and coworkers more so than that of traditional methods. Please, feel free to pass on the word of MVR…we would greatly appreciate it!
Matsu Valley Rebuild will be closing for a couple of weeks from December 7-26 as the founder/president/operator is leaving the state. This brings up the next topic; volunteers.
We need some. A couple hours a week, a month…intermittently or frequently but with some sort of regularity, I could really use the help. There is a lot to do, even when it is slow. Organizing, cleaning and stocking items…always something to do. As traffic picks up the need will only increase.
Speaking of increasing, the plan is to move in the Spring to a larger facility, hopefully 5000 square feet. With the increase in customers recently, some advertising through Winter and the building season hitting again next year I anticipate a surge in material donations. A larger facility is in order.
MVR now has an Amazon Smile account. This means if you shop on Amazon you can go to smile.amazon.com instead, it is the same site with all of the same items. Designate Matsu Valley Rebuild as your charity and when you purchase qualifying items MVR will receive 5% of the purchase price! It does not cost you any more, just a perk from Jeff Bezos. Pretty sweet way to support local while shopping online.
Also, Matsu Valley Rebuild is registered with Fred Meyer’s Community Rewards program, a similar program to Amazon Smile. If you go to fredmeyer.com and sign up for an account with your rewards number MVR will get a little kickback whenever you use your Fred Meyer card. Cool.
Lastly, we now offer gift cards at MVR!
If there is someone in your life that has a project going on or coming up, maybe they are fans of MVR or would be (if they have not been) a gift card would be a great present…they are available in any amount.
That is all for now.
Thank you for your interest and support for MVR,
Tim Zalinger
Founder/Operator
