MONROE — Although she is from the Cambridge area, Rebecca Anderson is no stranger to Green County — and no neophyte when it comes to the second-hand market for furniture and such.
The new director of the recently expanded Habitat for Humanity Resale shop successfully ran Cambridge Furniture Traders where she honed her skills in new and used furniture, including working as an appraiser.
She has also been heavily involved in agriculture, with a specialty in organic farming.
“I have many ideas and directions we can go,” said Anderson, during a recent afternoon at the bustling little resale shop, now permanently moved next-door to the newspaper at 1061 4th Ave West, from its old facility at 305 2nd St.
And ideas and vision are tangibles the store and its parent non-profit — Habitat for Humanity of Green County — are banking Anderson will contribute to their efforts. New Habitat Executive Director Lynn Brooks said staff and volunteers are hoping to craft a new vision for the group’s resale shop, which is a big part of its overall fundraising effort centered around local, affordable housing and housing security.
“I felt like we really needed to go in a different direction,” said Brooks, who said the shop will likely market its quality used furniture and household items more aggressively to the public under Anderson’s leadership.
In fact, officials say they hope to eventually grow the new store’s reach enough to open a Habitat for Humanity Restore location in Monroe. The often much larger Restore locations are expanded versions of the Resale Stores — with the goal of diverting reusable household items and building materials from area landfills. They often include more fixtures and donated bulk new and used building supplies among their offerings. Examples of Restore items include: Kitchen cabinets, doors and windows, flooring, unused lumber, lighting fixtures, fencing bricks/blocks and other items.
The Habitat chapter here, meanwhile, has successfully operated its Resale shop in Monroe since 2015. The move last year to new digs is timely for raising the group’s profile in the area, as it eyes new house building projects for the community in the future.
“I love the Habitat mission,” said Anderson. “The opportunity to build with this organization is amazing.”
Walking around the shop there is an organized randomness to the offerings — with plenty of solid furniture pieces. The items, of varying vintage, include couches, end tables, lamps, art work, bedroom furniture, home fixtures, décor, knick-knacks — just about anything else a customer would need to make a house a home.
Born in Milwaukee, Anderson attended college there before moving to the East Coast to pursue a career in non-profit management.
She returned to Wisconsin in 1995 for a brief career in health care administration but eventually left to build her own business, Cambridge Furniture Traders in Cambridge, population 1,500, mostly in Dane County.
Anderson was also farming at the time; and owned a farm raising poultry, hay and horses. Then she changed occupations to become an organic farm inspector, after the building where her store was located sold in 2017 and she was unable to secure a new lease.
Anderson continues to work as an organic farm inspector when she is not at the Habitat Resale Store.
Living in Wisconsin’s rolling driftless area since 2019, she said she has developed a close relationship with several of the organic dairy farmers in the area.
“I consider the driftless area to be home, and appreciate friendly greetings received from the Habitat Resale Store staff and volunteers,” she said.
Brooks said that Anderson has already achieved plenty in her short tenure at the shop.
“Her experience and her confidence are an asset to us,” she said.
