Have you ever felt the exhilaration of finding a deal? Of feeling like you robbed the place you just shopped at, even though you paid for every last item? Call me an adrenaline junkie, but I love the high of scoring a bargain. I love garage and estate sales, thrift stores, and consignment sales, but today I want to focus in on Birmingham area locations to find deals on new items. These are some of the best spots for bargain hunting in Birmingham!
Bargain Hunt
Bargain Hunt has multiple locations (Hoover, Brook Highland, Crestwood) in the Birmingham area, but all have fun deals to search out. They carry lots of Target products (think children’s and adult clothing, shoes, home goods such as rugs, furniture, linens, and textiles) as well as other items such as toiletries, food, and electronics. The trick to shopping here is to go often and with an open mind — you never know what you may find. If you find something you like, snatch it up, as items turn over very quickly. Also important to note is that not everything here is a great deal. For instance, I typically find that their diaper prices are just as high, if not higher than, big box stores. You’ve gotta be on your game to find a deal at Bargain Hunt, but it’s a fun adventure along the way.
Dirt Cheap
Dirt Cheap in Homewood is my personal favorite. Is it disorganized? Yes. Is it chaotic? Yes. But Mama, the deals can be found here. I buy almost all of my kids’ clothing and shoes here for $2 to $6 each (mostly Cat & Jack and GenuineKids brands, originally sold at Target). I also love to update decor with inexpensive items I find. For instance, a $2 shower curtain and $5 bath mat, new brands from Target, can make a fun and cheap update to a bathroom. My living room rug is from Dirt Cheap, and the large fiddle leaf fig artificial plant I had been stalking for years (because I can’t keep real ones alive!) was finally found at a price I could afford at Dirt Cheap. It’s not a terribly kid-friendly place due to narrow aisles and the like, but if you ever have an hour to yourself, take a look around.
Aldi
Did you know that Aldi is more than a grocery store?! They have an aisle of constantly changing products that vary widely but are generally related to home, kitchen, and kids. For instance, I have purchased Fisher Price toys for $5 to stock my kid birthday gift bin, and I bought a new cookie sheet to replace my most disgusting one — for $3! My all-time favorite Aldi find was a cute pair of plaid slippers (random, I know!) for $3.49. This summer, they have tons of gardening and outdoor items at great prices.
Southeastern Salvage
Southeastern Salvage is in Irondale and has almost everything home-related that you can think up. This is the perfect place to check out if you are building or renovating a home or if you just want to improve your decor. They sell tons of outdoor furniture in the summer, and they have gorgeous lighting, rugs, and textiles from all around the world. There is some furniture, and there are tons of deals on finished and unfinished cabinetry, indoor and outdoor doors, and tile and flooring.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet
Ollie’s has been around for a while in Homewood, but they recently opened a new location in Hoover as well. This store has a wide assortment of home goods, yard materials, paint, rugs, patio furniture, kids’ toys, snacks/food, and more. It’s hard to describe the variety.
I’ve only been a couple of times but was particularly impressed with deals on items for outdoor use. For instance, I bought high-quality spray paint for a project for $3/can, and my husband found name brand gardening shears for $4. For the book lover, they have a huge section of books to choose from, both for children and adults.
Goodwill
Wait, but isn’t this post about places to buy new items? Yes, yes it is. Goodwill has many thrifted items, of course, but the Birmingham location (on Green Springs Highway South) also stocks new items, mostly from Target. I bought my kitchen rug brand new for $40, and all of my girls’ ballet slippers were new and only $4 each. And then there was the deal that got away . . . Once I saw a new-in-box inflatable hot tub, originally priced $300 marked down to $40, and I let it go. I can just picture us relaxing in that thing on our deck; I still regret that non-purchase!
Crazy Cazboys
Crazy Cazboy’s opened in May 2019, in the Wildwood shopping center in Homewood (incidentally, two doors down from Dirt Cheap). And if I do say so myself, the marketing plan is quite genius. The store is set up with large bins of random items (junk, if you will) that shoppers sort through. There is absolutely no organization, but that’s part of the fun. The store opens on Fridays with all items priced at $6, on Saturdays the items are $5, $3 on Sundays, and so on. The store is closed Thursdays to clear out items and re-stock, and then the pricing process starts over again on Friday.
I’ve only been once since the store is so new, but it was quite an adventure. I went on a Monday, when all items were $2. I won’t lie — I found it to be chaotic and a little stressful, but it was also pretty fun searching through a lot of trash to find some treasures. I’ll definitely be back!
