US vacationers lose tens of millions of suitcases yearly. Their contents find yourself at a retailer in Alabama
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.Thousands and thousands of clothes gadgets, items of knickknack, electronics and different deserted belongings find yourself annually 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 questioned? Did the suitcase get misplaced on the best way to the marriage — or after? Would the proprietor acknowledge her intricate gown if she noticed it within the retailer?Contained in 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 this present day 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.Airways sometimes spend three to 4 months making an attempt to reunite misplaced suitcases with their homeowners. If they will’t, they promote the baggage to Unclaimed Baggage, which separates gadgets into batches to be offered, thrown away or donated to charity, mentioned Bryan Owens, the shop’s proprietor. Cut price 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 November. It was her first go to to the shop, and he or she’d envisioned a wonderland of partially opened baggage bursting with garments, equipment and untold secrets and techniques.“I used to be ready to dig via suitcases,” she mentioned. “However now that I’m right here, I desire this setup — it’s a lot simpler to seek out issues.”Her accomplice, Frederick Stewart, 75, watched from a bench as Aronds tossed a black robe with darkish sequins into her purchasing cart, becoming a member of a rising pile that included a number of multicolored kaftans.She mentioned she beloved the marriage gown. However she couldn’t deliver herself to purchase it. Not simply but.Misplaced baggage gadgets have included wigs, sharks’ enamel and two reside snakesThe Unclaimed Baggage retailer launched in 1970. Owens’ father, Doyle Owens, began it after a good friend who labored for Trailways bus service instructed 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 will 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 adverts in a Scottsboro newspaper asserting they have been promoting gadgets from unclaimed baggage. Folks confirmed up in such giant numbers that the gadgets recurrently offered 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 mother and father in 1995. His father died twenty years later, however not earlier than he received an opportunity to see the shop develop its attain past this Alabama metropolis of 16,000 individuals.Within the 55 years because it began, Unclaimed Baggage has gone worldwide, with on-line purchases that ship to clients abroad. It’s change into one of many space’s primary vacationer sights 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 many quirkier gadgets found in baggage final yr: a funeral casket key, a suitcase filled with wigs, a jar filled with shark enamel and two reside rat snakes stashed in a duffel bag. The shop launched the non-venomous reptiles into the wild.Among the extra uncommon gadgets present in baggage over the a long time are showcased in a small museum inside the shop. They embrace a go well with of armor, a set of bagpipes, a Gucci bag crammed with 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 digital camera designed for the area shuttle. Seems, somebody from NASA had misplaced it throughout transit. The shop turned it over to the area company, Owens mentioned.“It’s like Christmas each day – we by no means know what we’ll discover,” he mentioned. “I have a look at it like an archaeological dig.”Airways promote baggage to the shop after they’ve exhausted efforts to match them with their ownersIn 2024, airways mishandled a median of 6.3 baggage per 1,000 passengers, in response to SITA, an trade skilled on air transport. Greater than 99.5% of suitcases are ultimately reunited with their homeowners, 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 in the usAirlines sometimes spend three to 4 months making an attempt to match the unclaimed baggage with their homeowners 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 point the baggage find yourself on the retailer, the airways have already compensated the homeowners, per federal laws, as much as $4,700 per passenger for a misplaced bag on a home flight.The shop buys every bag as is, with out taking stock of its contents. The luggage are taken to a warehouse, the place their gadgets are sorted and cleaned.Used undergarments are usually not offered; solely new ones that also have value tags on them, Hood mentioned. Tech consultants take away private knowledge from digital units 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 U.S.-based airways with questions on how their course of works. Two — United Airways and Southwest — confirmed that they ship misplaced suitcases to the power in Alabama after they’ve exhausted choices to reunite them with their homeowners.United mentioned it sends suitcases after 90 days, whereas Southwest does so after 120 days. Different home airways contacted by CNN didn’t reply.The shop’s wares are a mirrored image of the altering cultureOver the years, gadgets recovered from misplaced suitcases have mirrored altering cultural traits. Throughout the retailer’s infancy, vacationers usually left their Walkmans – moveable music gamers – on planes, together with cassettes by such ‘70s artists as Joni Mitchell. Right this moment, vacationers go away 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.Probably the most continuously discovered gadgets embrace sneakers, blouses and blue denims – though extra formal clothes turns up as nicely. Filmmaker Daniel Scheinert, who received an Oscar final yr for co-directing “Every thing All over the place All at As soon as,” famously delivered his acceptance speech in a tuxedo bought from the Unclaimed Baggage retailer.Gadgets within the retailer are priced at between 20% to 80% off retail costs, Hood mentioned. However that doesn’t imply they promote low-cost junk, she mentioned.“We’re not a thrift retailer. Thrift shops are filled with issues that individuals not need. Our retailer is filled with issues that individuals beloved a lot, they packed them to tackle trip. So it’s normally 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 latest 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.The shop as soon as offered a Rolex look ahead to $32,000Andolyn Parrish, 28, grew up in Scottsboro however moved to Nashville, the place she works as a salesman. She visits her hometown recurrently to see household and store on the retailer.On a latest journey, she pushed a purchasing cart overflowing with garments. On the high was a silver $10 jacket that she mentioned would spruce up her work outfits.Certainly one of Parrish’s most costly purchases was a classic Louis Vuitton duffel that price her $350 however retails for hundreds of {dollars}.“One thing that I may by no means afford at retail costs, however I used to be in a position to 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 offered on the retailer for half that. The shop’s present top-ticket merchandise is a solitaire diamond ring priced at $19,491.“After 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.“By loss, there’s an opportunity for hope and redemption. By our donations, we rework lives. Loss in any approach is devastating. However how unimaginable is it to rework that into one thing optimistic for others?”The shop will not be a misplaced and located — however one girl found her outdated ski bootsThe retailer hardly ever reunites individuals 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 attracts individuals from all around the nation. Strains 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 person purchased ski boots that day for his girlfriend. When he received house, they found her identify 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 shop has a process for destroying paperwork, IDs, prescriptions and different delicate data present in suitcases. Eyeglasses are donated to the native Lions Membership.“We’re not within the enterprise of reunification,” Hood mentioned. “We’re within the enterprise of giving these things a second life.”The shop’s clients are pleased 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 provide a marriage gown from the shop one other stroll down the aisle.
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.
Thousands and thousands of clothes gadgets, items of knickknack, electronics and different deserted belongings find yourself annually 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 questioned? Did the suitcase get misplaced on the best way to the marriage — or after? Would the proprietor acknowledge her intricate gown if she noticed it within the retailer?
Contained in 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 this present day 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.
Airways sometimes spend three to 4 months making an attempt to reunite misplaced suitcases with their homeowners. If they will’t, they promote the baggage to Unclaimed Baggage, which separates gadgets into batches to be offered, thrown away or donated to charity, mentioned Bryan Owens, the shop’s proprietor. Cut price 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 November. It was her first go to to the shop, and he or she’d envisioned a wonderland of partially opened baggage bursting with garments, equipment and untold secrets and techniques.
“I used to be ready to dig via suitcases,” she mentioned. “However now that I’m right here, I desire this setup — it’s a lot simpler to seek out issues.”
Her accomplice, Frederick Stewart, 75, watched from a bench as Aronds tossed a black robe with darkish sequins into her purchasing cart, becoming a member of a rising pile that included a number of multicolored kaftans.
She mentioned she beloved the marriage gown. However she couldn’t deliver herself to purchase it. Not simply but.
Misplaced baggage gadgets have included wigs, sharks’ enamel and two reside snakes
The Unclaimed Baggage retailer launched in 1970. Owens’ father, Doyle Owens, began it after a good friend who labored for Trailways bus service instructed 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 will 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 adverts in a Scottsboro newspaper asserting they have been promoting gadgets from unclaimed baggage. Folks confirmed up in such giant numbers that the gadgets recurrently offered 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 mother and father in 1995. His father died twenty years later, however not earlier than he received an opportunity to see the shop develop its attain past this Alabama metropolis of 16,000 individuals.
Within the 55 years because it began, Unclaimed Baggage has gone worldwide, with on-line purchases that ship to clients abroad. It’s change into one of many space’s primary vacationer sights 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 many quirkier gadgets found in baggage final yr: a funeral casket key, a suitcase filled with wigs, a jar filled with shark enamel and two reside rat snakes stashed in a duffel bag. The shop launched the non-venomous reptiles into the wild.
Among the extra uncommon gadgets present in baggage over the a long time are showcased in a small museum inside the shop. They embrace a go well with of armor, a set of bagpipes, a Gucci bag crammed with 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 digital camera designed for the area shuttle. Seems, somebody from NASA had misplaced it throughout transit. The shop turned it over to the area company, Owens mentioned.
“It’s like Christmas each day – we by no means know what we’ll discover,” he mentioned. “I have a look at it like an archaeological dig.”
Airways promote baggage to the shop after they’ve exhausted efforts to match them with their homeowners
In 2024, airways mishandled a median of 6.3 baggage per 1,000 passengers, in response to SITA, an trade skilled on air transport. Greater than 99.5% of suitcases are ultimately reunited with their homeowners, 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 U.S.
Airways sometimes spend three to 4 months making an attempt to match the unclaimed baggage with their homeowners 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 point the baggage find yourself on the retailer, the airways have already compensated the homeowners, per federal laws, as much as $4,700 per passenger for a misplaced bag on a home flight.
The shop buys every bag as is, with out taking stock of its contents. The luggage are taken to a warehouse, the place their gadgets are sorted and cleaned.
Used undergarments are usually not offered; solely new ones that also have value tags on them, Hood mentioned. Tech consultants take away private knowledge from digital units 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 U.S.-based airways with questions on how their course of works. Two — United Airways and Southwest — confirmed that they ship misplaced suitcases to the power in Alabama after they’ve exhausted choices to reunite them with their homeowners.
United mentioned it sends suitcases after 90 days, whereas Southwest does so after 120 days. Different home airways contacted by CNN didn’t reply.
The shop’s wares are a mirrored image of the altering tradition
Over time, gadgets recovered from misplaced suitcases have mirrored altering cultural traits. Throughout the retailer’s infancy, vacationers usually left their Walkmans – moveable music gamers – on planes, together with cassettes by such ‘70s artists as Joni Mitchell. Right this moment, vacationers go away 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.
Probably the most continuously discovered gadgets embrace sneakers, blouses and blue denims – though extra formal clothes turns up as nicely. Filmmaker Daniel Scheinert, who received an Oscar final yr for co-directing “Every thing All over the place All at As soon as,” famously delivered his acceptance speech in a tuxedo bought from the Unclaimed Baggage retailer.
Gadgets within the retailer are priced at between 20% to 80% off retail costs, Hood mentioned. However that doesn’t imply they promote low-cost junk, she mentioned.
“We’re not a thrift retailer. Thrift shops are filled with issues that individuals not need. Our retailer is filled with issues that individuals beloved a lot, they packed them to tackle trip. So it’s normally 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 latest 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.
The shop as soon as offered a Rolex look ahead to $32,000
Andolyn Parrish, 28, grew up in Scottsboro however moved to Nashville, the place she works as a salesman. She visits her hometown recurrently to see household and store on the retailer.
On a latest journey, she pushed a purchasing cart overflowing with garments. On the high was a silver $10 jacket that she mentioned would spruce up her work outfits.
Certainly one of Parrish’s most costly purchases was a classic Louis Vuitton duffel that price her $350 however retails for hundreds of {dollars}.
“One thing that I may by no means afford at retail costs, however I used to be in a position to 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 offered on the retailer for half that. The shop’s present top-ticket merchandise is a solitaire diamond ring priced at $19,491.
“After 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.
“By loss, there’s an opportunity for hope and redemption. By our donations, we rework lives. Loss in any approach is devastating. However how unimaginable is it to rework that into one thing optimistic for others?”
The shop will not be a misplaced and located — however one girl found her outdated ski boots
The shop hardly ever reunites individuals 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 attracts individuals from all around the nation. Strains 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 person purchased ski boots that day for his girlfriend. When he received house, they found her identify 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 shop has a process for destroying paperwork, IDs, prescriptions and different delicate data present in suitcases. Eyeglasses are donated to the native Lions Membership.
“We’re not within the enterprise of reunification,” Hood mentioned. “We’re within the enterprise of giving these things a second life.”
The shop’s clients are pleased 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 provide a marriage gown from the shop one other stroll down the aisle.
