Shoppers flock to Triangle stores for ‘thrill’ of buying high-end bargains for $10 or less
Frosty temperatures didn’t dissuade the most devout bargain hunters from staking out their favorite Raleigh haunt on a recent Tuesday morning.
The line outside Treasure Hunt Liquidators stretched 20 deep, a relatively skeletal crowd compared to most days.
“I think the cold scared off some people,” said Dorothy Perry, who visits the Capital Boulevard store every week.
Tuesday is $2 day, where almost every item in the strip mall warehouse sells for a couple of bucks. But Treasure Hunt’s inventory isn’t your typical five-and-dime supply.
Its sprawling bins may feature name-brand AirPods, drones, vacuums, computer parts, 3D printers or high-end clothing. Every day brings new surprises, even for the store’s management.
“We get stuff from everywhere in big boxes — Amazon, Target, Walmart, Home Depot, JC Penney,” said Mohammed Haidariya, a manager at Treasure Hunt. “It’s any time these places are liquidating products.”
Treasure Hunt can secure products at cavernous discounts because shipments arrive with some uncertainty. The store never knows what’s coming.
“I came for the first time with my sister and got hooked on it,” Perry said. “It’s always something different. I come for the thrill of it.”
New shipments are displayed each Friday across several waist-high receptacles. In the frenzy for Friday’s best items, the organized bins are quickly jumbled. No matter what shoppers may find, they only pay $10.
Prices decrease throughout the week. By Wednesday, any remaining products cost just $1. The store is closed on Thursdays while staff unpack a new week’s arrivals.
“You have to really look, but you can find amazing deals,” said Perry, who bought most of her Christmas gifts from Treasure Hunt. “You just have to be patient and look carefully.”
‘It’s hard to beat’
Gold Diggers Liquidation at 1001 North Miami Blvd., in Durham opened last month with a model that mirrors Treasure Hunt’s.
The 4,000-square-foot space features bargain bins that refill each Friday. Gold Diggers’ owner, Jorge Duran, is still building his network of suppliers, he said, but the store currently offers products from Amazon returns, Target and Best Buy.
Shipments have included GoPro cameras, Apple AirPods, Dyson vacuums and other high-end products that would normally sell for more than $100.
Duran, who grew up in Mexico City, said his mother’s frugal example inspired his interest in liquidation sales.
“I’m coming from low-income people,” he said. “I’ve seen my mom struggle with money and that was all she could do back in the day — buy and resell. So I’ve loved that, seeing people come and get deals and be happy and that makes me excited.”
He hopes Gold Diggers will give more families access to products that are often beyond their means.
“This is to help people with lower income who deserve to have nice stuff,” Duran said.
Easier access to affordable products
Giving shoppers easier access to affordable products was George Milano’s mission, too, when he opened Treasure Hunt amid one of the pandemic’s hardest months. The store, at 4522 Capital Blvd., celebrated its first anniversary last week.
“It’s a passion and hobby of mine to find deals,” he said. “A&E’s ‘Storage Wars’ is one of my favorite shows and I started doing research into liquidation because I never knew how that worked. Where did goods actually end up?
“I found out you can buy these things by the truckload and the quality of the goods was phenomenal. I couldn’t believe it.”
After reselling some products online, Milano and his cousin, Izzy, decided to partner on a brick-and-mortar shop.
“It started as an idea, and turned it making a lot of contacts and then opening a store,” Milano said. “I didn’t know how the numbers would break down, but it was just a hobby and it turned out other people were excited about it, too.”
Many of Treasure Hunt’s regulars are resellers who flip items for profit.
“There are lot of people becoming entrepreneurs because of us,” Milano said. “They’ve been laid off because of the pandemic and they’re trying to make ends meet. We take a lot of honor in that, a lot of pride in that, to be supporting families.”
Other shoppers, such as Kerrie Johnson, come for affordable gifts and donations. She buys helmets for a charity that gives bicycles to children.
Whatever shoppers are looking for, Johnson said, it’s hard to find better prices than what Treasure Hunt offers.
“I think people come for a lot of reasons,” she said. “I think a lot of people are also just looking for themselves just trying to get things at reasonable prices. But whatever someone’s looking for, it’s hard to beat what you can get here.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 5:50 AM.
