Rensselaer Adventures

This blog reports events and interesting tidbits from Rensselaer, Indiana and the surrounding area.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Shopping at the Bargain Barn

A few weeks ago I stopped in at the Bargain Barn. My son was looking for a bed frame and had been unsuccessful at Jasper Junction, so we decided to give the Bargain Barn a try.
They had a new sign in front that had not been there the last time I was by. The day was nice, so they had a variety of items outside.
One of the niches they fill is that they give Rensselaer a U-Haul outlet.

We went inside and looked around and actually did find a bed frame, which my son bought. There were lots of other things as well, including some toys shown in the picture below. Of course, they may no longer be there. As a liquidation outlet, their merchandise is ever changing.
The amount of display space is limited. I asked the source of their merchandise and was told much of it comes from contacts made on the Internet. There is a learning curve in figuring out how to do this. In this picture you can see more toys and some clothing.
The people were very friendly. I am not quite sure what to make of the business, though. I do not think the location is a good one--it is too far from the center of Rensselaer. The other problem a store like this has is that it does not have a stable group of items for sale. One week you might be able to buy a bed frame, and the next week not. Normally when you need something, you think of a place or two that is likely to carry that item and go there. Bargain Barn is not going to be one of those places. On the other hand, the fact that it has an ever changing assortment of things may attract people who otherwise would never go there. It should have the same appeal as an auction barn or a resale shop, with the difference that almost everything they carry is new merchandise. All of these places are fun places for those who enjoy shopping adventures.
When you are out that way, stop by and see what the Bargain Barn has.

PS: The best liquidation store I have ever been to was in Hot Springs, SD. One of my kids worked at Wind Cave National Park for a summer, and we visited Hot Springs as part of our vacation to see him. They had a weird assortment of strange things at very good prices. They also had quite a bit of food for sale. I wonder if the Bargain Barn will ever consider that as a possibility.

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