The Unclaimed Baggage Center is the final stop for parcels that never find their way home. Here, the contents are unpacked, sorted and sold to penny conscience consumers who come from all corners to pillage other peoples personal belongings. A bargain most of the items are not.

The store is a neatly laid out rummage sale with racks of cloths, shelves of books, a treasure trove of jewelry and heavily guarded electronics counter.

Sunglasses in particular seem to be elusive little properties to those who don’t keep a close eye on them. The whole back wall of the store is covered in them. Hats and t-shirts embossed in the name of every corner of the globe are up for grabs. With one stop at UBC, anyone can look like a world traveler. Stacks of Game Boys fill the electronic counter case. The names of children are sprawled across them in permanent marker so they would not get lost.

Many of the items appear to be from freight flights. There are piles of party and personal hygiene items that never made it to the shelf. One will quickly notice the air pockets of clutter that could only be unclaimed freight. Or maybe that is another store.

The Unclaimed Baggage center is complete with its own small museum where they display their found treasures in a few glass cases. The star attraction is "Hoggle", a puppet from the movie Labyrinth. He looks dizzy from the pick up carousel as he leans on one foot among other movie memorabilia.

Strangely, the one thing you will not find at the Unclaimed Baggage Center is luggage. Aside from two small racks of duffel bags, there were no bags to be found. Perhaps there is an Emptied Baggage Center somewhere in the country. One can only hope.

Unclaimed Baggage Center
509 West Willow Street
Scottsboro, AL