It's a three only because I think pack rats and scroungers will probably love this place. If you have all day to dig around in bins of junk or have an eye for that one item in a store like this that's a good deal, well...you are in the right place my friend.
This was on a Saturday, I was on my way to another store nearby when I saw the sign and remembered I wanted to check it out. Never made it to the Arlington location so went inside. Several points of interest I noticed.
This location had some pallet lots for sale. I saw one labeled "automotive" for, wait for it...$900. Course there's an industrial type 4-5 foot square box packed with boxes. It's packed in a way that, if they let you (which I didn't ask cause I didn't care) it would take you an hour just to pull stuff out, try to guess what it was, and then repack it. I would be willing to bet they don't let you go through the pallets, because then you would easily see it wasn't worth even half of that price. Back in the late 90's, I did a lot of surplus electronics and computer stuff, and anyplace with pallets like this, if you didn't look, or couldn't look, you better not buy. Also, a lot of the stuff I did see was out of box, maybe used, or handled, or open boxes inside. Next!
I saw some furniture pieces that looked like they belonged in a cheap movie version of something inside a fake royal palace. I saw a beat up table thing with a huge scratch that looked like something Ikea wouldn't even sell in their stores, and it was marked $125. I saw other furniture that looked like used display items that I thought was priced double what it was worth. Yikes.
Pretty well despondent at this point, I wandered into the middle of the store and over to the "electronics dept." where I could see phones and tablets. All of these were in display cases, ALL of them were displayed screen side down. I guess so you would have to call for help to check one out, and upon seeing that the screen probably looks sandblasted, the worker is probably supposed to tell you what a great deal it is. Most everything I saw in the case that wasn't new, the back covers looked really worn. Phones, tablets, all of them, looked pretty worn, and priced way too high. Only new items I saw were mostly blister packed cables and chargers. Gonna move along here.
Clothes section? yea, glanced, nope, kept walking. Got to the main area where there are a lot of open table bins with stuff piled in them. Off to the side, I saw several pallets of open box stuff, mostly kitchen appliances. Seriously, open box stuff should be minimum 50% off to begin with. No way I'm gonna buy an open box item to save $10, are you crazy? I wonder if you even get a guarantee the item works? Guess I shoulda asked, but honestly, I was almost at the end of my journey and could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Lots of new dust collector stuff here tho. Coffee mugs, coasters, cups, glasses, little cute tchotchke stuff with little cute sayings. Plus the bins, loaded with open box or, getting destroyed still in box, stuff. I guess these are the $14 items that are listed in the store. Anyway, glanced at a couple, honestly, nothing of interest to me whatsoever, I double stepped to the exit. This is a Saturday, isn't this the day all the new stuff is out ready to go? Gah.
So, like I said, I see the value to people who love trying to find that treasure in the trash. This looks like your Nirvana. It has kinda the same setup as some Goodwill places, but the items are cleaner and smell better and it's a nicer crowd. I was disappointed in what I saw, but hey, this place ain't my thing, it may be your heaven. read more