Although it doesn't happen often, sometimes luggage gets lost at airports. Estimates are that about .05% of bags don't make it onto the carousel. Airlines make every effort to contact the owner and re-unite them with their bag, but what happens to bags that go unclaimed?
Turns out, those bags go to ONE PLACE - the Unclaimed Baggage Store - which happens to be just a couple hours outside of Nashville in Scottsboro, Alabama. And it's pretty much the GREATEST THRIFT STORE ever.
According to their website, merchandise only ends up at the store after the airline has made multiple attempts to contact an owner and/or paid claims on the lost bags. At that point, the bags are loaded up on a truck and shipped to Alabama, where the Unclaimed Baggage Store identifies, categorizes, washes, and re-sells the items.
Unsurprisingly, most of the items they receive are clothes (duh)
The store is set up much like a department store, with a men's, women's, and children's clothes section, along with different sections for shoes and formal wear.
The store also has it's share of electronic equipment
Even phones...(WHO PUTS THEIR PHONE IN A SUITCASE?!?!)
And every once in a while, a weird treasure that can only be explained in a picture
Wanna take a trip to the Unclaimed Baggage Center? Well, it's literally just a shade over 2 hours from Downtown Nashville. Here's the directions - just bring us back something cool!