COMMERCE - Jefferson couple Rose and Vince Mercardante have spent years learning the best way to organize racks of children's clothing and the kindest way to tell people that no one wants their old couch. It's an odd set of skills, but they're highly valued by nonprofits that depend on the money raised by thrift stores to fund their operations. And the Mercardantes have those skills. <br />
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Vince Mercardante helped open and now manages the Jackson County Habitat for Humanity ReStore at the corner of Georgia Highways 15 and 98 in Commerce. About 15 miles away, his wife, Rose, runs the domestic violence shelter Peace Place's thrift store on Georgia Highway 82 in Arcade. <br />
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``These are retail businesses and their main function is to raise funds so that the Habitat for Humanity, for me, and Peace Place, for Rose's store, can do the good that they do,'' said Vince Mercardante. ``But we also see the job as a ministry in itself _ just talking to people, listening to them, counseling them.'' <br />
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Not everyone who shops at a thrift store is down, but you do meet a lot of people who could use some encouragement, he said. <br />
For Rose and Vince, running their respective thrift stores is just a day job. They also co-pastor a Jefferson church, A Call to <br />
Salvation. <br />
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For 20 years of their 38-year marriage, the couple pastored at The Harvest Chapel in Jefferson, but since 2005, they have traveled around the world doing mission work and teaching. Shortly after they returned to the United States, Peace Place was looking for someone to run their fundraising thrift store in a more profitable way, and Vince Mercardante, who'd spent a few years running <br />
Potter's House thrift stores, needed a job. Peace Place hired him but he had to leave the store behind to travel to South Korea on teaching trips, and the charity hired Rose Mercardante to take his place. <br />
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Vince would help her at the store whenever he was home. <br />
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When the Jackson County Habitat for Humanity opened a ReStore _ a thrift store that sells excess and salvaged building supplies as well as clothes and furniture to raise money for Habitat _ leaders knew they wanted Vince Mercardante, said Mark Bradley, who sits on the boards for both Habitat and Peace Place. Habitat got the expertise of two Mercardantes for the price of one. <br />
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Both stores are open Tuesdays through Saturdays, so the couple usually don't see each other during store hours, but they do share ideas and help each other after hours. <br />
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Rose, who's maintained Peace Place's massive inventory of donated merchandise, helped organize and price all the merchandise at the new ReStore before it opened earlier this month. <br />
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``It's very nice to see a husband and wife work together, whether it's in their vocation or in their passion outside of work,'' Bradley <br />
said. ``But it takes a very special relationship.'' <br />
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The Mercardantes are special people, he said. <br />
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"Not only do they feel the need to help people, but they have the business savvy to know how to run stores profitably, ultimately <br />
benefiting both Habitat and Peace Place's missions of serving the public, Bradley said. <br />
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``Of course, our main reason to be here is to raise money for Peace Place,'' said Rose Mercardante. ``But we're also helping the <br />
community. With the economy like it is and people hurting, people need to find the things they need at a reasonable price. ... So I feel like we're helping the community that way, and it gives me a lot of satisfaction.'' <br />
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