 |
I was so excited to take a road trip to the Unclaimed Baggage Center (UBC) in Scottsboro, AL, last week. Seriously, this place has been written up in Vogue, The Wall Street Journal and has been featured on the TODAY show as treasure trove for fashionistas and bargain hunters. So why wouldn’t I waste spend an entire day driving there and back to check it out? Well, I’m warning you that what I saw didn’t stack up. I left fairly sick to my stomach at the pilled bath robes, used and unmatched bikini bottoms, half-used containers of perfume and lost wedding rings. It’s simply a sad, sad place.
Don’t believe everything you read. Case in point, these reviews.
I struggled about whether or not to write about my trip, and I couldn’t find a silver lining. In the end, I am writing about it because I was seething mad that I wasted 5 hours driving to and from this arm pit, one that had been given such great press. I know, that’s really harsh. But, first and foremost, we know that women are busy and I don’t want a single person who reads StyleBlueprint to ever be duped into this road trip like I was. With overstock sites on the Internet, Gilt Group and Rue La La, Ebay and end-of season sales at locally owned stores, I promise you that there are far better bargains, in better condition, than you will find at the UBC.
UBC is full of the .01% of orphaned luggage that airlines have been unable to reunite with their owners. For over 40 years, UBC has kept this 40,000 square foot warehouse stocked daily. My guess is that before the Internet, this truly was a bargain hunter’s paradise. But, the competition today is simply too easy to access and boasts better products.
For example, I had heard that the designer handbags were a bargain. Most of the handbags I saw were 50% off. They were cheaper if they were truly terrible and stained to the point of not being usable.
See that stain on this Michael Kors bag in the top left corner? The back side of the bag had these all over it. Check out the price tag for this bag below.
Apparently, this stained bag is still deemed worthy of $150 buckaroos.
This Nine West bag is in horrible shape. Oddly enough, there were two identical bags with the same stains. Price? $10.59. Cheap, but who wants it?
This bright and shiny Michael Kors bag with stains on the front and back can be yours, all shiny logos included, for $76.
Another Michael Kors bag. My gosh this place is a magnet for MK. Looks new at first glance, but notice: every seam is worn.
See how worn this bag is? (Those are my cute bracelets, not bought at UBC.)
UBC wants $259.99 for this bag. Can you understand why I was so mad I made this trip?
You can find a better deal at the end of the season at any shop in town, and the bags are in perfect shape and are current. The UBC ones are, many times, damaged and years old.
This bottle of perfume is half off, but it’s also practically half empty:
You, too, can pay 41% off retail for partially used bottle of perfume.
There are enough straw hats to top every head at Steeplechase or Derby:
Lots and lots of straw hats. All I could think of was all the heads they have been on…
More hats. Seriously, there are probably 20 different areas all dedicated to straw hats.
All the bikini bottoms made my stomach feel a little queasy.
Perhaps you need used bikini bottoms, Target brand (like that matters! They are USED bikini bottoms!) for $3.29.
I was hoping the shoes would make this trip worth it.
No, the shoes available depressed me more.
This bathrobe, to me, epitomized my shopping experience.
Sad bathrobe has seen better days. You’ll pay $8.29 for it. Look closely and you’ll see used underwear hanging behind the robe. No, I’m not kidding.
I guess if you need computer cords, this is your place to load up. My guess is that you could also stop by any local hotel and say “Hey, I stayed here last month and I left my iPhone cord. Do you have it?” I bet they have a box of 150 to choose from, for free. Or, you could go buy one, full price, and know that it works and you can return it if it doesn’t. Or, you could check out Amazon. Or, I guess you could drive to Scottsboro, AL, and get a used one for 50% off…
Computer cords, iPhone cases, headphones and more…
I had the brilliant idea that I should check out their luggage, as surely they would have tons considering each item there arrived in a suitcase, right? No, that logic doesn’t work here.
The irony: there’s not much luggage for sale.
Miscellaneous:
This floral giclee can be yours for $1799.99 Hey, it’s $3600 retail.
Really bad jewelry.
Steven Colbert paperback is still $6.
Seriously, there were approx. EIGHT of these posters available for purchase. I could not find a price, probably because the price tag fell off 30 years ago.
A Nail Trainer? And, it’s $65! A quick look at Ebay shows this to actually be under market value… who knew?
There were so many wedding bands and this seriously made me tear up. Poor lost bands. What is their story?
The items they had on their walls were pretty cool:
If these breast plates were for sale, I would have loved to have considered the price. These are pretty cool!
Sure, this place is a hit-or-miss destination, and that is to be expected. But with paperback books still at $6, damaged bags at 50% off, used bikini bottoms being sold for $4 and Target-brand clothing being sold for more than Target sells it on sale, I’d firmly say, don’t go.
You know us, we write positively. We LOVE to write about the stuff we LOVE (and yes, we know we use that word too much) and simply not write about that which we don’t. But, really, we are about you, our readers, and if we can save you the frustration of a wasted day like the one I’ve just described, we will. So, now you have a heads-up. Whew. Glad this one is done.
|
26 Responses to “Proceed With Caution: Unclaimed Baggage Center”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- Opry Mills, it's really good... | StyleBlueprint - [...] » Opry Mills, it’s really good… After all my bitterness about ...
$40
50%
$20
$20
Thank you a million times over for this review. I was planning a surprise birthday weekend just to go to this store in the next 3 weeks. You saved me a wasted trip gas money and the embarrassment of taking my friend here for a birthday treat.Now i will start making plans for something else.
Thank you
Stephanie
I love honesty. Thank you!!
I would not recommend making the trip just to go to UBC. But I would recommend it if you’ll be nearby. We usually go once a year on the way home from visiting relatives in Huntsville (stopping for lunch at the amazing diner down the road on the town square – pimento cheese burgers and hand dipped shakes – yumm!)
The luggage selection is so low because they donate most of them to foster kids.
It is hit or miss, but I’ve gotten some great stuff there. The low-end bags always have plenty of fun finds for those of us in the <$20 range. I've not bought cables, but have picked up travel adaptors and gadget covers. I agree the shoes are disappointing, but I got a cute pair of pink galoshes that look to have never been used (found on display elsewhere in the store – the cutest shoes aren't in the shoes section).
It's simply not fair to compare UBC to a high-end thrift store in Green Hills. It's more like an extra-large rural county Good Will full of stuff people didn't mean to donate. People who buy designer handbags in fancy department stores are NOT their target audience. Laughing at the terrible art and ugly clothes is supposed to be part of the fun.
Still, there are fashionista-worthy deals to be found if you have lucky timing. The winter coats this past year were especially good. I found a gorgeous green wool one for $25, and my husband scored a brand new (pockets and vent still sewn shut) cashmere overcoat by Ermenegildo Zegna for ~$300 (worth $2500+). Pic of the coat http://instagr.am/p/GysSODF5uX/
Fabulous review, Liza. I appreciate your honesty, as do all of those who will save their time and energy from making this trip to Unclaimed Baggage! I have heard similar stories from friends, so I am not surprised. Used bikini bottoms for sale? Uh, no thanks.
Lol. I literally laughed out loud reading this. Sometimes you just gotta tell it like it is! Maybe the unclaimed wedding rings were deliberately lost for an excuse to upgrade to a better ring? Maybe?
I, too, only write positively,about the restaurants I review. However, I think back to a certain situation that had I been a blogger, I would have had to share it. Sometimes, a situation warrants the whole truth. Glad you shared it and you made me laugh.
Angela, yes, we generally have so many things we want to write about that we choose the best experiences. We never mislead by saying great things about a place we don’t like, we simply just don’t write about the place… We just feel that with FACES on Monday and Fashion Friday, there are too many things we are excited about the other three days to share so we simply look at the things we get excited about. But, every now and then an experience is SO bad, that this becomes what you are excited to share, as you don’t want anyone else to have that experience!
Who woul wear a used bathing suit bottom? Or a previously worn hat? Based on what I see boarding an airplane, I wouldn’t want anything that belonged to the majority of the people. Why not go to one of the many Goodwill locations? My antenna surfaced when I saw the piece of art. Seriously? How exactly would one check this as baggage? My suspicion is whomever owns this “treasure trove” is a scavenger hunter posing as an unclaimed baggage store….aka recycled Goodwill items. Thanks for going to the bother & informing your readers
Liza,
Thank you for the honest review. Sometimes we have to see the good, the bad and the ugly to appreciate local bargains. So glad I did not make the trip. I can cross this one off my “To Do” list.
If we want to treasure hunt, we should support the missions of our local thrift stores. At least these places provide jobs and programs for those in need. Thank you.
I think the ski club takes an annual sports equipment shopping trip down there. I went probably 20 years ago with them and had a similar reaction to the clothes, wedding bands, and perfume and left with nothing but I guess at certain times of year the sporting goods can be worth the drive. Some of the lost baggage is actually new merchandise that the airlines are shipping . . . .
One of your best posts, truly. Loved it. Excellent.
Thanks for the hilarious and honest review! I went there about 20 years ago and bought 20 amazing hardback books for $2-$4. I discovered Anne Lamott that way! Two years ago I went back because of a nearby funeral and was disappointed as well.
There was one delight. In the back right corner a rounder was marked with the sign “Foreign” on the top! It was filled with the most beautiful $5 Indian kurtas and sarees. Gorgeous. I bought a few of those and wear them! They were less expensive than the old underwear in the store.
Liza, great review. I had a similar experience 10 years ago when I went to hunt for things to buy and sell on eBay. =Very disappointed with the prices, except for the 2 Burberry Prorsum trench coats I picked up for $50 each. I also felt like it was a wasted day which was topped off by a speeding ticket on the ride home.
Been there too and Goodwill may be the best way to describe it, though you’re not helping the good-people of Goodwill. But, with that said, we did pick up a London Fog trench coat for our son in great condition for $18. Agree, don’t make a special trip, but if you’re in the neighborhood. (Hmmm…now that i think about it, he NEVER wears that coat.)
So glad to have read this! I have been tempted to go for years.
When I got my StyleBlueprint email this morning and saw the topic I could not wait to read it. Since I have had my own experiences here I wanted to read what yours was. You are totally right! I travel quite a bit on business and had read about this place too. The first time I went I was so excited to be in the area and made a detour to find it and shop. VERY DISAPPOINTED! Exactly as you described in your post. On another trip I thought that I would give them another chance and go there again. Same experience. I will not be going back. No need to waste my time and gas. Thanks for your very honest write up.
Interesting and funny piece, and very helpful as I have been tempted over the years to go. I’ll save gas and shop in Nashville. With all due respect, only writing positively on an experience, whether it be about a store or a restaurant or a movie–is not a review, it’s a promo piece. If you have a bad or disappointing experience but are not truthful about it—in a hopefully constructive way—you are doing a disservice to your readers, and to whatever you are writing about so that they can address the issues. I appreciate an honest appraisal. If that is not possible, and you are opposed to writing negatively, not writing about it is preferable to misleading.
Kay,
Here at StyleBlueprint, we simply choose to not write about things we don’t like, most of the time. We NEVER write a promo piece. With FACES on Monday, we only have 4 posts a week to write and there is simply too much good that we want to share that we simply DON’T write about a lot. We would NEVER EVER write positively about a place we took issue with. Our integrity is all we have…. So, when you say, “If that is not possible, and you are opposed to writing negatively, not writing about it is preferable to misleading” rest assured that this is where we are. But, a few times, we have had to pop up and write about a negative experience, we just usually prefer omission all together.
Liza, I apologize fo rmiscommunication.I was actually referring to the commmet above about only writing positive reviews about restaurants, even when the experience is not. I agree completely with SB’s position in this venue, to inform your readers—-including me—about the great things in Nashville. I learn something every time. I had no idea about Body Balm until I read one of last week’s posts. My position for some other publications I write for reflects yours for SB—I don’t write positively aboout a negative experience, I just don’t write about it at all. Your integrity is rock solid!
I can’t get the “ew” look off of my face. I could feel the disappointment and depression from your journey and appreciate the honesty of your review. I also have to wonder, to whom do the profits of this particular industry go? Somebody is actually making money from the ineptitude of the airlines? The wedding rings are what really bothered me and I worry that perhaps not all that much effort was made in reuniting them with their bereaved. This entire concept sets off my “ew” alarm, then seeing what the goods are, I think I’d rather buy stuff that “fell off a truck.”
This was an eye-opener and much needed. I am in a group of four women who go the last Friday of the month on junkets to antique and just plain bargain places to troll around. We had talked about taking an overnight to this place! Wow, am I glad for your honest review. We would have been totally frustrated and horrified to be in that place after the long trip and stay. Thanks, Liza, for the review. Kentucky and East Tennessee, here we come!
Since we have a cabin in Sewanee, we travel down there every now and then for a raod trip to get out of the house. UB has its place, but I never considered it for high end clothing. Though I did buy a fun Versace jacket for $30 that I wore casually with jeans until even I admit it was too bedraggled. But I’m no clothes horse, that’s the only Versace I’ll probably ever buy.
It has been useful for my kindergarten teacher girlfriend to buy tons of cheap headphones and even old iPods for her classroom. The best thing I did was one year when I bought bags and bags of small toys and CD players and books for about a hundred bucks and donated them all to Ronald McDonald House in lieu of exchanging gifts with my family. That was a really good use of all the cheap nick nacks.
A friend of mine whose husband is from Scotsboro raved about this store for years. She is still kicking herself for not buying a Cartier watch she spotted there a few years ago. She did comment recently that it is no longer the place it used to be. But in years past, she has made some fabulous purchases there.
After reading about the UBC in various publications about 4 years ago, and after speaking with a FRIEND who had found a FABULOUS brand new designer coat there for less than $90, my husband and I decided to take an short trip from Greenbrier (25 minutes North of Nashville) and check it out. I am the ULTIMATE shopper and I LOVE a bargain, and I don’t mind driving for one.
BOY was I EVER disappointed. I found the place to be dirty and musty-smelling, the merchandise to be in shoddy condition, and my overall impression was that I could’ve visited every T.J. Maxx in a 150 mile radius and enjoyed myself a lot more. My husband, who is NOT a shopper, but who loves me and does it because I love it, HATED IT. In fact, he said it would be a cold day in you-know-where before he’d EVER go back.
I felt like I had wasted my time. Needless to say, I have NOT been back, and don’t plan on EVER going back. Disappointing is putting it nicely.
BTW, I also found the people who worked there were NOT helpful at all, and I felt like they all wished we’d (customers) all disappear so they could go home.
I was driving back to Nashville from a trip out of town and decided to go an hour out of my way to go to UCB. The place itself is pretty disgusting (musty, bad lighting, etc.) and pricing of merchandise is random and usually high. BUT I will say that the day I was there I found an Hermes square silk scarf for $45. It’s probably my favorite in my collection, so the trip, while mostly frustrating, proved to be worth it for me. I would never go out of my way/make a special trip, to go there again, though.