Trendy take on thrifting hits Pierce County store, with new bins, blind boxes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Spanaway Habitat store introduced four liquidated bins stocked with assorted goods.
- Bin items are $5 Friday and Saturday, $4 Sunday, $3 Monday, $2 Tuesday, $1 Wednesday.
- All proceeds support Habitat for Humanity affordable housing programs.
Thrift shoppers at the Spanaway Habitat for Humanity Store were immediately drawn to a new offering Friday. Four eight-foot-long bins were newly restocked with everything from toys, knick-knacks and electronics to home goods and beauty products at 15801 Pacific Ave.
The “liquidated bin” offering is something new the nonprofit is trying to keep items out of the landfill and in the community. Goods are sold for $5 on Fridays and Saturdays, and the price goes down throughout the week.
Sunday’s bin items are $4. On Mondays they are $3, on Tuesday they’re $2 and Wednesdays they’re $1, said Marijke Pieters-Kwiers, communications and events manager for Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity. On Thursdays staff offers “blind boxes” for $15, filled with a “curated mix” of liquidated bin items and “some higher-value donated items,” Pieters-Kwiers said.
Most items in the bins have been discontinued from major retailers or are Amazon returns “that have been generously donated or purchased at auction,” Pieters-Kwiers said.
Liquidated bins are restocked every Friday at the Spanaway stores. There are six clothing bins restocked at the Puyallup store (1329 E. Main Ave.) on Fridays, too, Pieters-Kwiers said.
“The idea of liquidated items has been popping up in different areas, as bigger retailers like Amazon have many online returns. To keep these items out of landfills, many shoppers are embracing ‘liquidated items,’ a modern, trend-driven take on thrifting in today’s online shopping era,” Pieters-Kwiers said in an email April 28. “The Launch Day videos for the Spanaway Liquidated Bin Items garnered over 62,000 views on Facebook and continue to draw in a newer demographic of shoppers.”
All purchases go to support the nonprofit’s programs to build affordable housing in Pierce County. When The News Tribune wrote about the store opening in 2024, director of operations Ed Dopp described it as “kind of like if Goodwill and Home Depot had a baby.”
