A Place Where Lost Luggage Gets Another Shot

Dec. 2, 2014
Exclusive contracts are locked in with major United States-based airlines to load suitcases and other stuff from primary airports in trucks and haul them back to this northeast Alabama town of about 15,000.

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. — It is a secondhand store, one of a kind. Its name,Unclaimed Baggage Center, doesn’t quite say it all. Its shelves are stocked not only with luggage lost, forgotten or ditched by airline passengers; the store also carries all the contents of that stray luggage deemed suitable for purchase.

In the G.P.S. generation, when the whereabouts of things as diverse as smartphones, house pets and children’s backpacks are traceable, airline passengers and their possessions still permanently part ways.

While the number of “mishandled” items, as the aviation industry describes checked luggage that disappears or is damaged on its watch, is declining, the boom in carry-on belongings left in seat-back compartments and overhead bins — think iPads — has helped keep this repository of orphaned property thriving. And there is the promise of continued good times as more travelers take to the skies for the holiday season.

More details here.