KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.
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The popularity of bin stores is growing in the Kansas City area as the newest addition, Retail Bins, settles into its new location in Blue Springs.
Bin stores, like Retail Bins, buy overstock and returned merchandise from big-name stores.
Retail Bins gets its pallets from Amazon, Walmart, JCPenney and Target, to name a few. Those items are then put into bins for people to dig through at random.
Retail Bins' owner Jennifer Bishop said she opened her store after having a cheap Christmas thanks to bin shopping. That sentiment is shared by her customers who love a deal.
"On Wednesdays, I look for all the secret stuff people have left behind, like I got these bowls, $2 for all these bowls,” Danielle Martin said as she showed off her Wednesday shopping steals.
In 2023, the National Retail Federation reported that 14.5% of purchased items were returned — that equates to $743 billion worth of goods.
Bishop’s goal is to be an affordable way to keep those items out of the trash.
“What a lot of people don't know is when they return something to any store, it doesn't necessarily get resold, and most of the time, it doesn't get resold," she said. "If you rip that package, they can't resell it. And so they try to sell it in liquidation, and when it does not sell, it goes to landfills."
Bishop said Retail Bins receives new pallets throughout the week.
Prices vary by day: Saturdays are $12 an item; Sundays are $10; Tuesdays are $6; Wednesdays are $2.
Bishop also sells pallet loads and mystery Amazon boxes.
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