PARMA, Ohio — The shoppers line up early, and the deals are hard to beat. Krazy Bins, a local "bargain bin" discount chain with locations in Mentor, Akron and Parma draws a devoted customer base of shoppers who are out to score a deal.
"I think my favorite customer quote is, 'if you have the eye for Target, but the budget for Goodwill, Krazy Bins is the place to be'," CEO Noah Levitt told 3News Meteorologist Jason Mikell.
So how does it all work? CEO Noah Leavitt and his team buy truckloads of overstocked and returned items from popular retailers and pass the discounts directly to their shoppers. You'll find everything from home goods, furniture, toys, clothes, shoes and more.
"We just love being able to give an amazing product offering that wasn't here before," Leavitt said. "Our customers love it and give the community something they didn't know that they needed."
Noah says, the unique shopping experience is a big part of what keeps customers coming back.
"Friday is the beginning of our week..[and on Friday,] everything in the bin is a set price. So [an item] might be $39.99 at Target, but on Friday it's $13," he explained. "If it doesn't get sold in our bin on Friday, Saturday it goes down to $8. Sunday, goes down to $5, Monday, $3, [Tuesday,] $2, [Wednesday,] $1, by Thursday, [items are only] 75 cents."
The concept kicked off in Mentor in 2020, before expanding to Parma and Akron. The Parma location shuttered during the pandemic, but tons of word of mouth, and social media buzz later, and their Parma store was officially reopened in September.
"It's funny, a lot of customers will say, oh, there's better stuff here. There's better stuff there," Leavitt said. "But really they need to know it's just random. We never know what we're gonna get week to week. That's what makes a shopping experience so fun."
So fun, Jason couldn't resist doing a little shopping of his own - with some help from his close friend and colleague, 3News anchor Laura Caso. Laura happens to be a skilled bargain shopper and was ready to dive right in.
Another big draw here is the furniture, and Jason was on the hunt for some bar stools. Noah showed them how to simply scan the barcodes on the large furniture boxes using the Target app, to see what items you’ll find inside. And sure enough - Laura helped Jason score the perfect pieces for his apartment, and they both left the store as very happy shoppers.
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