The lure of a good deal sent shoppers pouring into NuNu’s Hot Bargains in Greendale Thursday. They were cashing in on a new trend in retail. Some local businesses are buying surplus inventory from major retailers, such as Target and Walmart and reselling it to consumers at deep discounts.Comaneci Mueller lined up outside NuNu’s several hours before doors opened on Thursday, the day that the newest shipment of discounted items arrived. This store, and others in Racine, Brookfield and other local communities, are part of a new breed of business that buys truckloads of overstock and surplus inventory from major retailers and sells it off at bargain prices, posting some of its merchandise on social media.”We buy orders, liquidations, overstock stuff from Target, Walmart, basically across the country,” said NuNu’s store manager Chris Rafalski.Mueller got a tablet and a microwave, and Maile Ryan found a Ring doorbell, all for $12 apiece.The store lowers the price of its items each day of the week, eventually as low as $1, until that week’s stock is picked over. The store closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to restock its shelves and bins. When new pallets of merchandise hit the sales floor on Thursday, it can create a chaotic scene for shoppers, but one that is all part of the business model. It is a business model created by supply chain and shipping issues and a record number of merchandise returns, which have retail warehouses across the country overflowing. And it’s one that more and more consumers are starting to embrace,Marquette University retail expert Felicia Miller said she is not certain whether more of that type of store will continue to pop up around the area, but the stores are seizing the opportunity, she said, before the retail landscape shifts again.”I’m not sure the pop-ups will continue, but, for sure, there are going to be some alternative types of businesses,” Miller said. Meanwhile, the daily discount model appears to be a big hit with a growing number of bargain hunters.”If I can save some money in the long run, I’m all about it,” Ryan said.
The lure of a good deal sent shoppers pouring into NuNu’s Hot Bargains in Greendale Thursday.
They were cashing in on a new trend in retail. Some local businesses are buying surplus inventory from major retailers, such as Target and Walmart and reselling it to consumers at deep discounts.
Comaneci Mueller lined up outside NuNu’s several hours before doors opened on Thursday, the day that the newest shipment of discounted items arrived.
This store, and others in Racine, Brookfield and other local communities, are part of a new breed of business that buys truckloads of overstock and surplus inventory from major retailers and sells it off at bargain prices, posting some of its merchandise on social media.
“We buy orders, liquidations, overstock stuff from Target, Walmart, basically across the country,” said NuNu’s store manager Chris Rafalski.
Mueller got a tablet and a microwave, and Maile Ryan found a Ring doorbell, all for $12 apiece.
The store lowers the price of its items each day of the week, eventually as low as $1, until that week’s stock is picked over.
The store closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to restock its shelves and bins.
When new pallets of merchandise hit the sales floor on Thursday, it can create a chaotic scene for shoppers, but one that is all part of the business model. It is a business model created by supply chain and shipping issues and a record number of merchandise returns, which have retail warehouses across the country overflowing.
And it’s one that more and more consumers are starting to embrace,
Marquette University retail expert Felicia Miller said she is not certain whether more of that type of store will continue to pop up around the area, but the stores are seizing the opportunity, she said, before the retail landscape shifts again.
“I’m not sure the pop-ups will continue, but, for sure, there are going to be some alternative types of businesses,” Miller said.
Meanwhile, the daily discount model appears to be a big hit with a growing number of bargain hunters.
“If I can save some money in the long run, I’m all about it,” Ryan said.
