Bin stores offer deep discounts in Metro Detroit
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Mohammed Bashar, owner of Blessing Bin Store in Hazel Park. Photos: Joe Guillen/Axios
Bargain hunters across Metro Detroit are turning to bin stores for deep discounts on everything from beauty supplies and home decor to electronics and children's toys.
Why it matters: Everything seems to be getting more expensive, but bin stores are gaining popularity by selling returned and overstocked items for a fraction of their retail price.
State of play: The nationwide craze is catching on locally.
- We visited bin stores last week in Detroit, Hazel Park and Waterford to get a taste of the action.
How it works: Each store has its own rules, but items are typically priced on a weekly schedule and gradually become cheaper to encourage clearing out stock.
For example: At Binz and Beyond on Joy Road, merchandise starts at $12 on Friday and drops to $2 on Wednesday. The store is closed on Thursday for restocking.
- Items are often in boxes, which you may or may not be permitted to open.
- Some goods come from Amazon returns, but other big-box retailers also funnel overstocked, returned or discontinued items to bin stores through liquidators.
Stunning stat: Retailers estimate that 15.8% of their annual sales will be returned this year, totaling nearly $850 billion, per a National Retail Federation report.
💠Joe's thought bubble: There's a decent amount of junk in some bins, as you might expect.
- But several items in the $10 range caught my eye, including a weightlifting belt, face lotion, a small frying pan and an office fan.
What they're saying: Bin stores are not only enticing from an affordability standpoint, but visiting them can also feel like a treasure hunt, Mohammed Bashar, owner of Blessing Bin Store in Hazel Park, tells Axios Detroit.
- Blessing Bin doesn't have a progressive pricing structure like other stores. Instead, Bashar has $10, $7, $5, $3 and $1 bins every day with goods from Amazon, Target and Walmart.
- "Every day people come here, they find new stuff," Bashar says.