Scottsboro, Alabama – As Vee Aronds tried on a satin-and-lace wedding dress at the Unclaimed Baggage store, she couldn’t help but wonder about the journey the dress had taken from an airport carousel to the store. The store, located in northeastern Alabama, prides itself on being the nation’s only seller of items from lost luggage, receiving millions of clothing items, jewelry, electronics, and other abandoned belongings each year.
Inside the 50,000 square-foot space, rows of clothes, shoes, books, electronics, and other inventory from lost suitcases line the store. The store, which opened in 1970, was started by Doyle Owens after a friend working for Trailways bus service expressed a need to address mountains of unclaimed luggage. Since then, the store has expanded its reach beyond Scottsboro, attracting more than a million visitors annually and even offering online purchases that ship internationally.
The store’s inventory mainly consists of items from luggage lost during air travel, although they occasionally receive unclaimed bags from trains and buses. Some of the quirkier items discovered in lost luggage include a funeral casket key and two live rat snakes. The store even has a small museum showcasing unusual finds throughout the years, such as a Gucci bag filled with Egyptian historical artifacts and a puppet from the 1986 fantasy movie “Labyrinth.”
The store operates by purchasing each bag as-is without taking inventory of its contents. Used undergarments are not sold, and personal data is removed from electronic devices before being tested for functionality. Approximately 7,000 new items arrive at the store daily, offering a wide range of products at discounted prices.
With items priced between 20% to 80% off retail prices, the store attracts various customers, including self-proclaimed “super shoppers” who frequent the store for unique bargains. One shopper, Andolyn Parrish, shared her experience of purchasing a vintage Louis Vuitton duffel for a fraction of its retail cost. The store also prides itself on providing items with a second chance, turning lost objects into found treasures for its visitors.
Although the store rarely reunites people with their lost items, it offers customers a chance to discover unique treasures and possibly give lost items a new life. The store’s spokesperson, Sonni Hood, emphasized the store’s commitment to giving these items a second chance and transforming loss into something positive for others. As visitors like Vee Aronds leave the store with bags of newfound items, the possibility of rediscovering lost treasures remains a captivating aspect of the Unclaimed Baggage experience.