Scottsboro, Alabama
CNN
—
Vee Aronds gazed at her reflection within the mirror as she tried on a satin-and-lace wedding ceremony gown. She patted the fitted bodice and twirled to see the size of the prepare.
Surrounded by racks of formal robes, Aronds was on a mission to uncover hidden treasures on the sprawling Unclaimed Baggage retailer, which describes itself because the nation’s solely vendor of things from misplaced baggage.
Millions of clothes gadgets, items of bijou, electronics and different deserted belongings find yourself every year at this singular retailer in northeastern Alabama.
As she admired the flowing white gown from totally different angles, Aronds mused about its journey from an airport carousel to the shop.
Who had owned it, she puzzled? Did the suitcase get misplaced on the way in which to the marriage — or after? Would the proprietor acknowledge her intricate gown if she noticed it within the retailer?
Inside the 50,000 square-foot area, rows of garments, footwear, books, electronics and different stock from misplaced suitcases stretch so far as the attention can see. On at the present time they included a mixture of distinctive gadgets – left-handed kitchen shears – and eccentric ones, akin to a papier-maché Tinker Bell from Disney’s “Peter Pan” dangling from the ceiling.
Airlines usually spent three to 4 months making an attempt to reunite misplaced suitcases with their house owners. If they’ll’t, they promote the luggage to Unclaimed Baggage, which separates gadgets into batches to be bought, thrown away or donated to charity, mentioned Bryan Owens, the shop’s proprietor. Bargain hunters then scoop up the shop’s merchandise at low cost costs.
Aronds, 55, and her accomplice drove to Scottsboro from Ooltewah, Tennessee, at some point final week. It was her first go to to the shop, and she or he’d envisioned a wonderland of partially opened baggage bursting with garments, equipment and untold secrets and techniques.
“I used to be ready to dig by way of suitcases,” she mentioned. “But now that I’m right here, I desire this setup — it’s a lot simpler to search out issues.”
Her accomplice, Frederick Stewart, 75, watched from a bench as Aronds tossed a black robe with darkish sequins into her buying cart, becoming a member of a rising pile that included a number of multicolored kaftans.
She mentioned she liked the marriage gown. But she couldn’t convey herself to purchase it. Not simply but.
Lost baggage gadgets have included wigs, sharks’ enamel and two dwell snakes
The Unclaimed Baggage retailer launched in 1970. Owens’ father, Doyle Owens, began it after a pal who labored for Trailways bus service advised him he had mountains of unclaimed baggage and didn’t know what to do with it.
“My dad grew up considerably in a retail enterprise and he thought, ‘I may also help you with that,’” Bryan Owens mentioned.
The elder Owens borrowed $300 and a 1965 Chevy pickup truck and drove to Washington, D.C. to gather the suitcases. The household put advertisements in a Scottsboro newspaper saying they have been promoting gadgets from unclaimed baggage. People confirmed up in such giant numbers that the gadgets repeatedly bought out.
As enterprise boomed, Doyle Owens give up his job within the insurance coverage trade and targeted on his new enterprise.
Bryan Owens purchased the shop from his dad and mom in 1995. His father died 20 years later, however not earlier than he received an opportunity to see the shop develop its attain past this Alabama metropolis of 16,000 folks.
In the 54 years because it began, Unclaimed Baggage has gone worldwide, with on-line purchases that ship to clients abroad. It’s develop into one of many space’s principal vacationer points of interest and attracts greater than 1 million guests yearly, Owens mentioned.
The overwhelming majority of the shop’s stock is from baggage misplaced throughout air journey, though the shop receives some unclaimed baggage from trains and buses. Unclaimed Baggage additionally sells gadgets left in seat pockets, overhead bins and in hand baggage, mentioned Sonni Hood, the shop’s spokesperson.
Among the quirkier gadgets found in baggage final yr: a funeral casket key, a suitcase filled with wigs, a jar filled with shark enamel and two dwell rat snakes stashed in a duffel bag. The retailer launched the non-venomous reptiles into the wild.
Some of the extra uncommon gadgets present in baggage over the many years are showcased in a small museum inside the shop. They embrace a swimsuit of armor, a set of bagpipes, a Gucci bag full of Egyptian historic artifacts and a puppet — of Hoggle, a grumpy dwarf — used within the 1986 fantasy film “Labyrinth.”
One misplaced bag contained a customized Nikon digicam designed for the area shuttle. Turns out, somebody from NASA had misplaced it throughout transit. The retailer turned it over to the area company, Owens mentioned.
“It’s like Christmas daily – we by no means know what we’ll discover,” he mentioned. “I take a look at it like an archaeological dig.”
In 2023, airways misplaced a mean of 6.9 baggage per 1,000 passengers. More than 99.5% of suitcases are finally reunited with their house owners, however the small fraction of misplaced baggage provides up, Hood mentioned. In August 2024 alone, for instance, federal statistics present airways mishandled greater than 260,000 baggage within the US.
Airlines usually spend three to 4 months making an attempt to match the unclaimed baggage with their house owners earlier than promoting them to the shop. Some baggage go unclaimed as a result of they don’t have any figuring out data.
By the time the luggage find yourself on the retailer, the airways have already compensated the house owners, per federal rules, as much as $3,800 per passenger for a misplaced bag on a home flight, Hood mentioned.
The retailer buys every bag as is, with out taking stock of its contents. The baggage are taken to a warehouse, the place their gadgets are sorted and cleaned.
Used undergarments will not be bought; solely new ones that also have value tags on them, Hood mentioned. Tech specialists take away private information from digital gadgets and take a look at them to make sure they work.
About 7,000 new gadgets arrive on the retailer every day, Hood mentioned.
CNN reached out to a handful of US-based airways with questions on how their course of works. Two — United Airlines and Southwest — confirmed that they ship misplaced suitcases to the power in Alabama after they’ve exhausted choices to reunite them with their house owners.
United mentioned it sends suitcases after 90 days, whereas Southwest does so after 120 days. Other home airways contacted by CNN didn’t reply.
Over the years, gadgets recovered from misplaced suitcases have mirrored altering cultural traits. During the shop’s infancy, vacationers usually left their Walkmans – moveable music gamers – on planes, together with cassettes by such ‘70s artists as Joni Mitchell. Today, vacationers depart AirPods, telephones and tablets, together with T-shirts and different merchandise from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
“It’s a snapshot of what’s occurring with vacationers, and a slice of society normally,” Owens mentioned.
The most ceaselessly discovered gadgets embrace sneakers, blouses and blue denims – though extra formal clothes turns up as effectively. Filmmaker Daniel Scheinert, who received an Oscar final yr for co-directing “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” famously delivered his acceptance speech in a tuxedo bought from the Unclaimed Baggage retailer.
Items within the retailer are priced at between 20% to 80% off retail costs, Hood mentioned. But that doesn’t imply they promote low cost junk, she mentioned.
“We will not be a thrift retailer. Thrift shops are filled with issues that individuals now not need. Our retailer is filled with issues that individuals liked a lot, they packed them to tackle trip. So it’s often going to be nicer gadgets.”
Wade Dubose, 59, is a self-proclaimed tremendous shopper who goes to the shop a number of occasions a day to hunt for bargains.
“It’s like occurring an journey — you by no means know what you’re gonna get,” he mentioned.
On a current go to, he scattered his deliberate purchases on the ground round him. They included a pair of Nikon binoculars, tailgating followers, hand heaters and a golf cart cowl.
As an entrepreneur who purchases gadgets and resells them, Dubose depends on the shop for his stock. “I purchase something, so long as it’s a deal,” he mentioned.
Andolyn Parrish, 28, grew up in Scottsboro however moved to Nashville, the place she works as a salesman. She visits her hometown repeatedly to see household and store on the retailer.
On a current journey, she pushed a buying cart overflowing with garments. At the highest was a silver $10 jacket that she mentioned would spruce up her work outfits.
One of Parrish’s most costly purchases was a classic Louis Vuitton duffel that value her $350 however retails for hundreds of {dollars}.
“Something that I may by no means afford at retail costs, however I used to be capable of decide it up right here,” she mentioned.
Hood, the shop’s spokesperson, mentioned their most costly merchandise ever was a platinum Rolex watch that retailed for $64,000 however was bought on the retailer for half that. The retailer’s present top-ticket merchandise is a solitaire diamond ring priced at $19,491.
“When I go searching right here, I see a retailer filled with discovered issues, not misplaced issues — gadgets given a second likelihood,” mentioned Hood, who began working on the retailer in highschool as a becoming room helper.
“Through loss, there’s an opportunity for hope and redemption. Through our donations, we remodel lives. Loss in any manner is devastating. But how unimaginable is it to rework that into one thing optimistic for others?”
The retailer isn’t a misplaced and located — however one girl found her outdated ski boots
The retailer not often reunites folks with their misplaced gadgets.
Owens and Hood recalled just one identified case a couple of years in the past, when a client from Atlanta attended the shop’s annual November ski sale, which pulls folks from all around the nation. Lines wrap across the constructing, and a few clients pitch tents within the parking zone in a single day to safe a spot on the entrance.
The man purchased ski boots that day for his girlfriend. When he received dwelling, they found her title engraved within the boots and realized they have been the identical pair she’d misplaced throughout a visit. The airways had already compensated her for the misplaced baggage.
“They ended up in our retailer, they usually got here full circle again to her,” Owens mentioned.
The retailer has a process for destroying paperwork, IDs, prescriptions and different delicate data present in suitcases. Eyeglasses are donated to the native Lions Club.
“We will not be within the enterprise of reunification,” Hood mentioned. “We are within the enterprise of giving these things a second life.”
The retailer’s clients are blissful to assist with that effort. Aronds left the shop final week with a bag of garments — minus the marriage gown.
“He hasn’t proposed, so why ought to I get it?” she mentioned with fun. “Come on, a person has to ask first.”
Stewart chuckled. “I’m going to marry this girl at some point,” he mentioned.
If he does, Aronds plans to offer a marriage gown from the shop one other stroll down the aisle.
