The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor is holding its first warehouse sale, featuring home and office furniture, small appliances, bicycles and other large goods.

The sale will be 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at 837 Airport Boulevard, near the Ann Arbor airport off Ellsworth Road in Ann Arbor. The site is easily accessible from Ellsworth Road near the Bank of Ann Arbor.

“This special sale is a one-time experiment because we have accumulated enough goods to warrant it,” said Larry French, a member of Kiwanis who is organizing the sale. “We will test how this date and time works and hope to have more warehouse sales on occasion as our collection of goods accumulate.”

This sale does not replace the Thrift Sale held at the Kiwanis Activities Center, 200 S. First St., on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. It will continue as usual.

The Kiwanis Club has seen a rise in donations of home furnishings, requiring space outside its Activities Center in order to inventory and store the items.

Former Kiwanis member Don Butcher, who co-owns Airport Plaza with Jake Haas, offered the Kiwanis Club temporary use of some space to serve as a warehouse in one of the buildings that eventually will be replaced by Costco. In December, the Kiwanis started storing and sorting the large donations in the 8,000-square-foot space.

“Arranging the sale at the warehouse itself is more convenient because we didn’t want to have to take all the items from the warehouse downtown to sell it,” French said.

Now that the group has secured the temporary warehouse space, it's gotten more proactive about promoting its services.

“The more we get, the more we sell, the more we can give away,” said French, who added that the Kiwanis have gone as far as Canton to pick up donations.

There are about 300 items for sale at the warehouse, including couches, desks, cabinets, dining tables, refrigerators, bikes, computer accessories, and shop equipment such as work tables. Unusual items include a kiln and a motorized wheelchair.

Although French said members “don’t count noses” during the normal two-hour Saturday sale downtown, they make around $5,000 selling everything from books and clothing to furniture and toys.

“Although we don’t really have any expectations for the warehouse sale, I wouldn’t be surprised if we made $3,000 to 5,000 or more," he said. French said the items are priced aggressively, with a couch or a desk anywhere from $50 to $150, depending on quality.

Like its regular Saturday morning sale, the warehouse will be staffed with volunteers and Kiwanis members acting as sales staff, cashiers and merchandise loaders.

The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor raises roughly $250,000 a year from its Thrift Sale. After covering administrative costs, roughly $170,000 is given to more than 100 organizations throughout Washtenaw County.

The club has also started posting products on Craigslist and on its website, www.aakiwanis.org.

The Kiwanis Thrift Sale in Ann Arbor celebrates its 84th birthday this year.

"We've survived the Depression, a world war and several presidential administrations," said Thrift Sale co-chair Ken Shaw. "It's a 'win-win-win' project as the giver, purchaser and benefactor end up as happy campers.”

For further information or to arrange a donation, call 734-665-0450.

Laura Blodgett is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com.