COVID-19: An update from our Executive Director

– March 20, 2020

Greetings reuse fans,

I am emotionally struggling to write my post today. I have had the privilege of being at the helm of Construction Junction for 20 years.

With the help of many dedicated people over the course of that time, we have built an important resource for the Pittsburgh community and this region. To have that work profoundly impacted by something we cannot control is humbling and scary. Our sales have gone from averaging about $5000 a day to about $500 over this past week.

We have laid off a number of our employees and are operating with a smaller crew to handle phone sales and work on getting more of our inventory online. We are also doing some in-store projects that we simply cannot get done because we are a 7 day a week operation with, thankfully, regular customer traffic. Customer service can be challenging, but those small challenges pale in comparison to not having any customers.

We will continue to monitor how we piece together support from government, foundations, lenders and the public to keep our organizational head above water, but we know everyone is stretched thin and health needs to be the priority. We also appreciate that we are an affordable resource for building materials so we are focused on getting more of our inventory online and helping you safely pick up that material from the store. So far this week, paint and appliances have been the items purchased. We have robust quantities of both items!

Please keep checking the featured inventory website and we will be ready to help you make any purchase over the phone with your credit card. We will work with you to schedule a time to safely pick up your item. We are practicing social distancing so we can stage the item for you, but we are sorry we can’t help you load it. We are also picking up donated materials because we can practice social distancing and all you need to do is have the items accessible.

If you have the means at this time and would like to make a financial donation to CJ, any amount will help. Our average sale is about $37, that would be a fine level of support in a time when we appreciate we are not the only ones who need it! We also can sell gift cards over the phone and mail them out. Think of it as deferring your purchase until later while providing us with much needed revenue right now.

Also please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for store and inventory updates. We will be staffing the phones this weekend.

COVID-19: An update from our Executive Director