Hello and welcome to another episode of weird ways people make a lot of money. Featured today is a family in Alabama that sells your lost luggage.
When a bag goes missing at an airport, usually it will make it back to the original owner. This in mind, after a few months and no owner in sight, a third party steps in. The airlines can’t keep thousands of suitcases forever and when their shelf life expires, they’re on their way to a new life.
A man in Alabama back in 1970 decided to buy up a whole lot of forgotten luggage. From here he opened them up, sorted the belongings and began selling them. History states that he ran out of inventory in 24 hours. People love other people’s stuff.
Doyle Owens served in the Korean war then came back to the states to sell insurance. Once he discovered the hidden market for lost luggage, he left his insurance job behind and started a new business. With the help of his wife and two kids, they were able to get up and running.
Owen’s son, Bryan, took over the company in 1995 and has since expanded it immensely. The store has sort of turned into a thrift store. Each suitcase is opened and all objects inside are sorted accordingly. Clothes, jewelry, electronics– and sometimes things much weirder.
Over the years you have to image a lot of odd things have been found traveling internationally. A snapshot list earlier compiled reads:
- A Gucci suitcase full of ancient Egyptian artifacts from 1500 BC
- The original, 4-foot-tall Hoggle puppet from the 1986 film, Labyrinth
- An F-16 guidance system belonging to the US Navy
- A Nikon F camera from NASA’s Space Shuttle program
- A mysterious sealed box that said “Call CDC immediately”
‘Call CDC immediately’, yikes. Got to wonder what that was…
This business seems like it makes a huge profit. I can’t imagine the airline companies charge that much for luggage they’re trying to get rid of, and sometimes there are really valuable possessions inside! Craziness.
Anyways, this is the only business like this in the entire US so people travel from all over to check it out. Being one of a kind is a good hustle.
Now what you shouldn’t sell are swastika necklaces like this company who are currently under fire. Didn’t they know mass genocide isn’t hip?
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