It takes the sale of more than 1,900 pieces of artwork, 700 lamps, 1,500 pieces of furniture, countless glasses, and other household items to raise more than $300,000 for charity in a single year.
But that’s what the Village Treasure House resale shop in Northbrook did last year, said Sharon Kaczmarek, sales director with the nonprofit.
“That’s a lot of volume that also means many things don’t go where they shouldn’t, like a landfill,” she said.
The Village Treasure House opened in 1997 and since then has been a kind of crossroads where the resale of household goods and charitable causes meet. Each year the store donates its profits to 15 charitable agencies in the area and in 2023 that rang in at $305,000, Kaczmarek said, adding the store sold more than 16,000 items to reach that dollar amount.
According to the store’s website, it accepts a wide variety of furniture and home furnishings for consignment and donation including artwork, china, crystal, area rugs, dining room tables, sofas, chairs, figurines, and lamps.
“Village Treasure House is a nonprofit consignment home store featuring upscale and vintage furniture and home décor,” the website says. “We are a convenient resource for those in need of selling or donating home furnishings, as well as a great “find” for those wanting to purchase high-quality items, at bargain prices, for a deserving cause. All of our profits support local agencies serving families and individuals in crisis.”
Those agencies include Connections for the Homeless, Erika’s Lighthouse, Family Promise Chicago North Shore, Family Service Center, Hunger Resource Network, Haven Youth & Family Services, The Harbour Inc., Shelter, Inc., Metropolitan Family Services, the Northfield Township Food Pantry, the Wesley Child Care Center, WINGS, Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook, YWCA Evanston/Northshore and the Children’s Advocacy Center.
“The agencies that we support do this incredible amount of social outreach to make our neighbors’ lives better,” said Kaczmarek. “We have taken the proceeds that we make and we have distributed them among the local agencies that we have chosen specifically because they do have a local presence where our consignment base is and where our customer base is. We try to give back locally.”
The Village Treasure House, at 1460 Paddock Drive in Northbrook, was also one of five organizations that recently received Glenview’s Annual Environmental Sustainability Award, given each year in recognition of local organizations taking the lead with “environmental stewardship, implementation of best practices, and community outreach.” According to a statement from the village, The Village Treasure House “re-homed” more than 15,000 items last year, adding that the group also emphasizes reusing materials like bags, ribbon, wrapping paper and tags, reducing the purchase of supplies allowing more funds to go back to the organizations the store supports.
Kaczmarek also noted that the store benefited last year from supply chain issues many retailers were experiencing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Many companies were having inventory and resupply issues including 16-week waits for delivery,” she said. “With us you saw it in our showroom or online and it was available to take home that day. It was a major incentive for folks to be able to see the final piece and they could turn around and say ‘yes’ and have that in their house.”
She also said the store’s many volunteers are essential to its success and that skyrocketing prices of almost everything in recent years moved a lot of people to consider buying less expensive “re-homed” items.
Kaczmarek said that in 1997 the Village Treasure House gave away its first $6,000 to charities and since then has donated about $3.9 million and expects to hit the $4 million mark this summer.
“We’re kind of excited about that,” she said. “The biggest thing people can do to help is to go to our website or come in and shop. Tell friends.”
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
