Ever wonder what happens to stocked items that don’t sell, returned items or items with damaged packaging at big box retailers?
Liquidation stores will purchase those items at discounted rates, then pass those savings on to their own customers.
Shoppers in Lewis County now have a liquidation store of their own to explore — the AMZing Outlet Liquidation and Bin Store in downtown Centralia.
Opened by Centralia residents Matthew and Jaclyn Dawson, AMZing is located at 203 N. Tower Ave. and open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Dawsons’ kids work with them at the store, along with Matthew’s mother.
“We have one employee that works our online business in the back too,” Matthew Dawson said.
Once they receive items from big box retailers, they stock AMZing’s bins every Friday, and all items in the orange bins cost a certain amount depending on what day it is.
On Friday, everything in the bins is $15, then $12 on Saturday, $8 on Tuesday, $5 on Wednesday and, finally, $3 on Thursday.
Aside from the bins, there are also clothing racks and shelves stocked with individually priced items, but the bins are the big draw.
Matthew Dawson said his family is originally from the Grays Harbor area and moved to Centralia about four years ago. They wanted to open their own liquidation store after spending eight years as a third party vendor on amazon.com.
While they do get stock from Amazon, a lot of other retailers also contribute.
“We get shelf pulls, overstock and a little bit of returns from Target, Kohls, Home Depot, Amazon, a little bit of Walmart from time to time, and we buy by the semi truck-load,” Matthew Dawson said. “Sometimes we don’t even know what we’re getting until it gets here and we start opening boxes to fill the bins.”
The Chronicle had the chance to tour AMZing on Thursday, and everything from electronics, toys, workout equipment, cooking tools and more were in the bins.
While customers can wait for a cheaper day to shop for an item they may want, they run the risk of someone else buying it.
“If you come on Thursday, you’re going to miss out on a lot of good stuff. It’s the cheapest day but you don’t get the best selection,” said Matthew Dawson. “It’s kind of a gamble for the customers.”
Matthew Dawson added on $15 Fridays when they restock, they will sometimes hide more expensive items for customers.
“We put stuff in the bins that will cost upwards of $150. Sometimes we’ll stuff a drone in the bins and hide stuff, just so people can discover it,” Matthew Dawson said.
As far as Matthew Dawson knows, AMZing is the only liquidation store in the area with the closest being in Tacoma and north of Seattle.
“Nobody had a business like this in the area. It’s mostly just antique stores up and down here,” Matthew Dawson said.
He added the surrounding businesses have been nothing but welcoming to them.
For more information, call AMZing at 360-791-9221 or follow the business on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094345776919.
