A company whose business model is based on other people’s misery is staging a happy 50th birthday party for itself, complete with a 50-state road tour.
Unclaimed Baggage, the company that takes what you lose once the airlines have given up trying to find you, and sells it out of a 50,000-square-foot store in Scottsboro, Alabama. The store itself has become a popular tourism attraction, featured on tours and sought out by individual road-trippers.
Despite the thousands of items that come into their hands, the airlines have gotten better and better at keeping track of luggage; of the billion or so bags handled every year, only about 0.0003% end up being unidentified after a 90-day airline investigation.
Starting in March, the company will send a truck on the road tour, stopping at festivals and other events to host give-aways and other events. Unclaimed Baggage also supports a number of charities from the unclaimed items, supplying medical supplies to medical missions, and supplying foster children with suitcases for their belongings.
