Trend in Bent and Dent Stores Comes to Jamestown
JAMESTOWN, IN—The cans may have a dent or two, and the corner of the boxes might be a little bent, but the food inside is as good as it ever was, and customers can buy them at a much lower price than grocery or super centers. These are the bent and dent dollar type stores that have begun popping up all over the country, and there is a brand new one in Jamestown, Ind.
“We sell perfectly good food, laundry supplies and other items at a much lower price. People ask how we do afford to do this and the answer is simple, we buy salvage, bent and dent items from reclamation centers here in Indiana,” explained Brandy Hourihan owner of Jamestown Variety.
Accidents happen, even in the grocery business. If a case of green beans gets dropped, and a couple of cans get bent, those cans (and sometimes the whole case) don't make it to the grocery store shelves. Instead, they're sent to a reclamation center, where broken jars are discarded, cans with leaks are destroyed and the rest of the products are then shipped to a distributor, who sells to store owners like Hourihan.
In other cases, undamaged grocery items become salvage because their "use by" date is getting close, or because the item just didn't sell well in that area. Jalapenos sell well in Texas, maybe not so well in Wisconsin. Sometimes the reason the item becomes salvage is seasonal. A lot of Halloween stuff shows up in November and Christmas stuff shows up in January.
Prices are low because they need to be in this type of store. Because store owners can buy huge quantities of grocery items each month, they are able to get high quality, name brand foods and sell them for a lot less.
“Everyone benefits from this. You can save over half on your grocery bill. In this economy people have to watch their pennies. Sometimes $4.50 for a box of cereal is just too much when minimum wage is just barely over that amount. We think $1.50 to $2 sounds a lot better, and that philosophy is carried out throughout the store,” said Hourihan.
Hourihan with her husband Denis recently bought a building in downtown Jamestown. It was a pizza parlor prior to their purchase. The couple plan to open an auction hall in half of the building. The other half is dedicated to bent and dent store—Jamestown Variety.
Hourihan, a Putnam County resident recently finished auctioneer school and is eager to get started with weekly auctions. Items available in their auctions can be seen at Auctionzip.com.
Hours at Jamestown Variety are Mon-Sat. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are located at 6 East Main Street, Jamestown Ind. You can also visit their Web site at
jamestownvariety.wordpress.com.
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