One-of-a-kind store adds virtual option

An unusual, 50-year-old store that attracts one million shoppers annually is now selling online.

Unclaimed Baggage, which features a wide assortment of lost items that airlines and other travel businesses have been unable to reunite with their former owners, has unveiled its new e-commerce site. Similar to the 50,000-sq.-ft. Unclaimed Baggage store, the online shop features a wide assortment of goods, from unclaimed designer sunglasses and headphones to iPads and heirloom watches. New items are added regularly. 

Located in Scottsboro, Alabama, Unclaimed Baggage is the country’s only merchant of unclaimed and lost airline baggage and its contents. Besides clothing, footwear, formal wear and electronics, shoppers might find anything from a suit of armor and a 40-carat emerald to a Chinese dragon kite and a puppet created at Henson’s Creative Workshop.

“Our customers have long requested an online version of our in-store shopping experience,” said Unclaimed Baggage CEO Bryan Owens. “We’re glad that as part of our 50th anniversary, shoppers are now able to experience the thrill of the hunt online.”

Unclaimed Baggage also runs a philanthropic program, Reclaimed For Good, that provides charities with millions of dollars’ worth of unsellable clothes, medical supplies and equipment, such as wheelchairs. Reclaimed for Good’s Love Luggage initiative has also supported thousands of foster children by providing personalized suitcases to replace the garbage bags many typically use to transport their belongings.