Throughout its first year of business, a phrase has popped up regularly at Boomerang, a shop that’s part coffee house, part thrift store, part consignment store and part fundraising arm for local nonprofits.
“We call it ‘generosity commerce,’ ” said Peter Johnsen, general manager of Boomerang. “We believe generosity will return. If a business is generous and gives back, it will grow. We’re getting to a point where people pay attention to that and seek it out. We think people will flock to businesses who give back, and do so genuinely.”
Boomerang was opened essentially to give back. When people bring in items to donate to the store, or sell on consignment, the person picks a Southwest Washington nonprofit, and that organization will get 50 percent of the proceeds. The other half goes to Boomerang to cover operations of running the 10,000-square-foot store, 808 Main St., Vancouver. The store, which opened in December 2014, is celebrating its one-year anniversary Friday during Vancouver’s Downtown Association’s First Friday, when the store will host a talk where people will discuss stories of giving starting at 7:30 p.m.
One of the first things visitors see when entering the store is a chalkboard with the total given to nonprofits by Boomerang. As of Nov. 23, Boomerang had given $21,037 to local nonprofits, with most of that coming in more recent months.
If you go
• What: Boomerang one-year anniversary, where people will share stories of giving.
• Where: Boomerang, 808 Main St., Vancouver.
• When: 7:30 p.m. Friday.
• Info: www.boomerangvancouver.com or 360.952.8127
“We’re really happy with how much it’s been financially able to give back to nonprofits,” said Ryan Hurley of Hurley Development and Detour Ministries, a nonprofit Christian organization that operates the store. “It’s also doing what we hoped it would do in regards to its connectivity with the community. We’re really trying to bring together the culture downtown with the nonprofits downtown and creating those relationships, because as commerce continues downtown, and it’s obviously been growing, it’s critical to see a similar growth in the nonprofits that serve the city.”
Johnsen said the store is giving out about $5,000 a month, but his goal is for it to provide around $10,000 monthly to nonprofits.
“It’s been building,” he said. “We had months early on where we gave out hardly anything.”
Hurley said he’d like to see the store get to a point where it’s giving out between $60,000 and $120,000 a year. He also said he and the other investors think the store, at its current pace, will sell enough to sustain its operations within the next six months.
“It’s been building revenue for nonprofits, which is a huge deal,” Hurley said. “Our hope is that the initial investment will create a sustainable reoccurring financial model that continues for a very long time.”
Johnsen said the store has a list of approved nonprofits it works with that continues to grow, and currently has 20-plus organizations on board. He added that store operators vet the organizations and explain how the partnership works before bringing them on board. He said there’s no limit to how many nonprofits the store can work with, and he hopes the store gets to a point where “hundreds” of nonprofits are signed up.
Hurley said Boomerang can help nonprofits because it allows the organization to raise money without directly asking for money.
“(The nonprofits) can do a campaign with us and get their supporters and/or constituents to raise product opposed to capital,” he said. “They get a store to sell it for them. The store takes the risk.”
Hurley added that the idea for the store came from the Detour Ministries board, which is made up of 10 business owners who were looking to create something that played into their areas of expertise. He also said that while their religion isn’t prominently displayed at Boomerang, it does play a large role in the spirit of the store.
“Because of our faith, it’s very important for us to present a relationship with faith that is attractive, is not offensive, is inviting and is engaging,” he said. “This is a way we can reach deeper into the community without alienating anyone.”
Johnsen feels like the store, especially the coffee house, has already become integrated into the downtown community.
“We’re a place downtown for people to come shop,” he said. “We get a lot of people in the store who live, work, eat and play down here. A lot of people use this place as their office.”
The store is also expanding, and has started hosting live music Friday nights from 7 to 9 p.m. Johnsen said there’s the possibility of having a photographer come in to take family pictures in the future, as well.
He said the store is also unveiling a new bulletin board auctioning off experiences, with the same breakdown of proceeds as donated items, with half going to the store and half going to the nonprofit of the donor’s choice. He said the store is looking for experiences that could range from something like a week at a summer rental house to professional services, like time with an accountant near tax season.
The idea, Johnsen said, is to continue to grow the store and make it more visible, which in turn should bring in more nonprofits. Hurley said it’s on the store to get more organizations involved.
“The more we give out, the more people want to get engaged with it,” he said. “Give out more; that’s something that’s attractive to people. It’s engaging, it’s exciting. We want to continue to up our game in generosity.”
Donation hours are the same as store hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Donations worth more than $200 can be picked up with the store’s delivery truck.
