If one of the highlights of your vacations is shopping at unusual and interesting places that you can’t find at home, then you must visit the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. This home to lost luggage from around the world offers a staggering array of high-quality and unusual items at discount prices.If the airlines’ have ever lost one of your bags, then chances are it ended up at the Unclaimed Baggage Center. This mammoth store with 40,000 square feet of shopping space buys all of the major airlines’ unclaimed luggage that hasn’t been returned to their owners after 90 days. When the bags and boxes are unloaded at the Unclaimed Baggage Center’s processing facility, the staff never know what they’ll find.
Only one third of what is contained in the lost bags and boxes will be put on the sale floor for purchase. The rest of the items are usually headed for charities or must be trashed. Still, a staggering 7,000 unique items are put out each day.
Among the items available for purchase are plenty of high-end pieces of clothing and accessories which are usually priced 20-80% off of the suggested manufacturer’s price. Yes, the staff of the Unclaimed Baggage Center do know what they’re doing so you’re unlikely to buy a Coach handbag for $1. However, you can score some great deals on items such as skiing equipment, cameras, CDs, books and even housewares. There’s even a few wedding dresses that can be bought for a song. And talk about clothes - there are literally racks upon racks upon racks of shirts, shorts, pants, skirts and other apparel items for women, men and children.And if you enjoy an eclectic array of items from around the world, stop for lunch at the Blue Willow Bistro, just a half mile from the Unclaimed Baggage Center. The gypsy-like décor of the restaurant is created from countless treasures and antiques collected from around the world that decorate the individual rooms of the homey restaurant. Even the lawn outside is haphazardly decorated with lawn ornaments and seating areas. Lunch is served Tuesday - Saturday and dinner is served on Friday and Saturday.
For more information on the Unclaimed Baggage Center and to shop online, visit www.unclaimedbaggage.com or phone (256) 259-1525.
Photos by Kimberly Button
Kimberly Button is the author of The Disney Queue Line Survival Guidebook, the only Walt Disney World® Resort theme park guidebook that features scavenger hunts, trivia questions, word puzzles and hidden Mickey searches tailored to each attraction to alleviate boredom while standing in lines. For more information and to read an excerpt, visit www.disneysurvivalguide.com
