SCOTTSBORO, Ala. — Several flights were canceled recently across the country, leaving many passengers separated from their luggage. And there's been a lot of speculation about if your lost bag will end up in the hands of the "Unclaimed Baggage" store in Scottsboro, Alabama.
Sonni Hood, the Public Relations Manager for Unclaimed Baggage, shares this store is the nation's only retailer of lost luggage. It was were founded in 1970 by a gentleman named Mr. Doyle Owens, who was a local insurance salesman in Scottsboro.
The popular tourist destination and second-hand store has brought people from all over, fascinated with the concept of buying items from unclaimed bags.
And with the recent surge in flight cancellations and mounds of lost luggage, it raises the question, 'could these lost items find their way here?'
The short answer is, they might, but it could take awhile.
"We have contracts with all of the major airlines. And so a bag has to be lost for a minimum of 90 days after the airlines have conducted a very extensive search for the owner. And if after those 90 days, the bag is still unclaimed, then a claims process occurs, the traveler is compensated for their lost belongings. And then that's where we step in," Hood said.
The company then buys the suitcases from the airlines in hopes of providing a more sustainable solution.
"Our team begins going through the contents, determining if we're going to sell the items here in store or online at unclaimedbaggage.com, if we're going to recycle the item or if we're going to donate the item."
Unclaimed Baggage says even though they're stocked up with 7000 new items a day and the online store gets 5000 new items a week, 99.5 % of the time, airlines reunite lost bags.
So with the recent influx of lost luggage, it's unclear if the store will receive more than usual, "we won't know that until a few months from now."
And in some rare instances, a customer shopping at the store may find their own lost items.
"A gentleman was here shopping for his wife and he saw a pair of shoes that he thought his wife would like. So he bought the ski boots, took them home to her, and when she lifted the tongue of the boot, it had her maiden name listed in the boot," Hood said.
Southwest says they're working to connect people back with their luggage through this online form.