CNN - US travelers lose millions of suitcases every year. Their contents wind up at a store in Alabama [View all]

[Dennis Donovan]

CNN - US travelers lose millions of suitcases every year. Their contents wind up at a store in Alabama



By Faith Karimi, CNN

Published 7:00 AM EST, Sat November 30, 2024

Scottsboro, Alabama CNN — Vee Aronds gazed at her reflection in the mirror as she tried on a satin-and-lace wedding dress. She patted the fitted bodice and twirled to see the length of the train.

Surrounded by racks of formal gowns, Aronds was on a mission to uncover hidden treasures at the sprawling Unclaimed Baggage store, which describes itself as the nation’s only seller of items from lost luggage.

Millions of clothing items, pieces of jewelry, electronics and other abandoned belongings end up each year at this singular store in northeastern Alabama.

As she admired the flowing white dress from different angles, Aronds mused about its journey from an airport carousel to the store.

Who had owned it, she wondered? Did the suitcase get lost on the way to the wedding — or after? Would the owner recognize her intricate dress if she saw it in the store?

Inside the 50,000 square-foot space, rows of clothes, shoes, books, electronics and other inventory from lost suitcases stretch as far as the eye can see. On this day they included a mix of unique items – left-handed kitchen shears – and whimsical ones, such as a papier-maché Tinker Bell from Disney’s “Peter Pan” dangling from the ceiling.

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