Where Lost Luggage is Found
Where Lost Luggage is Found
Doyle and Sue Owens founded the one-of-a-kind business in 1970 as a part-time operation. Eight years later, they incorporated the company and watched it steadily grow. In 1995, their son, Bryan Owens, acquired the store, which now employs 120 workers and covers nearly two city blocks.
"It’s a little bit like Christmas everyday," says Bryan, the company’s CEO. "My dad started the business when I was in the 6th grade, but even today, after 35 years of this, it’s still like Christmas to me, because you never know what you’ll find."
Over the years, unclaimed baggage has revealed everything from ancient Egyptian artifacts and a suit of armor, to a neatly packed parachute and a live rattlesnake. Owens says a guidance system for an F-16 fighter jet once showed up at the store’s receiving area. "It actually had a label that read, ‘I’m worth my weight in gold,’" he recalls. "It made its way back to the U.S. Navy."
Of course, the majority of items are clothing, but with more than 7,000 new items stocked daily, shoppers can find CDs, cameras, jewelry, books and sporting goods. However, not every item makes it to the store’s shelves. "Some things we just throw away, others we give to charity," Owens says.
The store has an exclusive long-term contract with nearly every airline to purchase their unclaimed baggage. "You’d be hard-pressed to find one we don’t have a contract with," he says. The baggage doesn’t arrive at the center until at least 90 days of tracking by the airlines.
"We don’t get the luggage until the airlines have exhausted every option to find the owners," says Owens, noting that it can cost airlines $2,500 per ticketed passenger if luggage isn’t returned to its owner.
In fact, only a very small percentage of airline baggage goes unclaimed, but with the large number of air travelers—nearly 54 million domestic passengers flew in April 2004 alone, according to the U. S. Department
of Transportation—the Unclaimed Baggage Center stays well stocked. Owens says many times airline passengers forget to label their baggage with current contact information. "It’s a good idea to have it on the outside and inside of your luggage," he suggests.
In all, the Unclaimed Baggage Center draws 1 million visitors annually from around the world to the small northern Alabama town along Lake Guntersville.
"Many of our guests come again and again," Owens says. "It’s one of the top attractions in the state now. People are always looking for a treasure."
For shoppers who time it just right, Scottsboro offers another great opportunity to find unique items. The event, dubbed First Monday, brings local farmers and vendors, who set up shop around the town square and buy, sell and barter everything from quilts and furniture to baked goods and produce. Said to have existed as far back as the 1850s, the get-together is known officially as "First Monday Weekend Trade Days," since it takes place over the Saturday and Sunday prior to the first Monday of each month. Only holiday weekends actually continue First Monday into a Monday.
Scottsboro resident John Dolberry, 84, has spent his life participating in the town gathering. "I can remember coming here as a little boy with my daddy, bringing a load of pigs and such."
But while as many as 40,000 people can come to town for a single First Monday, it’s still the Unclaimed Baggage Center that’s put the town on the map.
"We literally have a world of shopping opportunities here," Mayor Ron Bailey says. "With the world’s unclaimed baggage being brought in, people from everywhere are following it to Scottsboro."
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