Treasure Hunt was in Evansville, Indiana. Kevin Greenlee/Insider
TikTok recently made Evansville's "unclaimed mail store" viral.
I went to the store and checked it out.
Shopping was a lot of searching and no treasure.
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The modern-day consumer and the cutlass-swinging pirates from popular folklore share one thing in common: they love treasure hunting. This premise is a key part of many major companies' layout strategies, such as Target, Costco and TJ Maxx. Other retailers go one step further.
TikTok's viral video showed a store in Evansville with a business model that was completely focused on the idea of the "treasure hunting." Treasure Hunt is even the name of the store. The footage shows that the store sells unclaimed mail with many packages still bearing the intended addresses. Addison Hearrin, a TikTok user, filmed herself going through the unopened packages and selecting five. She claimed that she was able to purchase a variety of Nike and Louis Vuitton products at a steeply discounted rate. Hearrin was not reached by insiders.
Mail that isn't delivered or returned to the USPS Mail Recovery Center gets sent. The USPS website states that the MRC may "auction off items held" in lots. However, the United States Postal Service couldn't confirm that Treasure Hunt was selling unclaimed mail.
Insider was told by a spokesperson from USPS that it is impossible to determine from the video whether all packages in the store were purchased or if they were handled by USPS (United States Postal Service). "FedEx and UPS have their own procedures for dealing with non-deliverable items.
To find out the truth about Treasure Hunt, I headed down to Evansville to see it for myself.
I am located in Indianapolis, about three hours from Evansville. We were eager to find untold treasures so our husband and I made the trip to the Crescent City together.
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Ine Cain/Insider
We noticed several thrift and discount stores in Evansville as we got closer. Later, I discovered that Treasure Hunt's owners also own several similar businesses in the region.
Ine Cain/Insider
After many hours of driving, we finally arrived at a strip mall. The storefront of Treasure Hunt was simple, and the price list was clearly posted upfront.
Ine Cain/Insider
The store's interior was very basic, with many aisles of wooden troughs. These structures held everything, from food and apparel to unclaimed parcels.
Kevin Greenlee
The store's name is true, it has a theme that would make any salty seadog proud.
Kevin Greenlee
A large display even showed a battle between a Kraken and a Buccaneer. However, the merchandise we saw was more like a few barnacles rather than a collection of shiny gold coins.
Kevin Greenlee
Our timing could have been the problem. Every Friday, the store replenishes unopened stock. If you are looking for quality merchandise, the weekend is the best day to visit the store.
Ine Cain/Insider
We were lucky to have arrived on Wednesday. We arrived on a Wednesday and the pickings were very slim.
Ine Cain/Insider
This treasure hunt is about digging through these bins to find desirable items.
Ine Cain/Insider
I expected to find tubs of still-packaged goods when I arrived, but instead I found loose items.
Kevin Greenlee
I actually only found a few still-packaged products.
Ine Cain/Insider
The few remaining intact boxes contained words like "refused," return to sender, and "no such numbers" on them.
Kevin Greenlee
There were many signs that prohibited shoppers from opening unwrapped packages.
Ine Cain/Insider
But apparently, those exhortations didn’t work. Nearly every package we found was ripped open in one way or another.
Ine Cain/Insider
Even loose Reese chocolates were found in one bin. This was an amazing sight.
Kevin Greenlee
I asked a worker about the origin of the inventory, and we heard a lot of shoppers asking the same question. It was strange that no one had any answers as to the origin of the inventory.
Ine Cain/Insider
The mix was a wild mixture of odd-and-ends by the time we reached it. While I was looking through the bins, a bra caught my eye.
Ine Cain/Insider
A crop top by Delta Sigma Theta
Ine Cain/Insider
Whatever this piece of machinery may be...
Ine Cain/Insider
A kit that includes an Islamic prayer rug
Ine Cain/Insider
...a deer antler
Ine Cain/Insider
Some Breeze pads
Ine Cain/Insider
A small object that looked similar to an egg, but wasn't an egg.
Ine Cain/Insider
...a video game controller
Ine Cain/Insider
A broken toy gun...
Ine Cain/Insider
These dental veneers are also available.
Ine Cain/Insider
This item was a stretch fabric with an image of a young male printed on it. Who is he? Is it possible that he didn't receive the highly personalized product he requested? What is the story?
Ine Cain/Insider
It made me feel guilty that I was looking for items that were missing. Is it possible that someone is out looking for their rush crop top, veneers or prayer rug?
Ine Cain/Insider
The shopping experience was not something I enjoyed. After a fresh restock, I can understand how customers might enjoy looking through the packages. It felt a little like dumpster diving on the day that I was there.
Ine Cain/Insider
The store was less chaotic in other areas. For those who wanted to bulk buy beverages, the walls were covered with boxes. We spent a lot of time looking through the product trays and the boxes at the corners.
Ine Cain/Insider
However, that wasn't the end. We found some interesting flyers while in Treasure Hunt for a sister shop that openly advertised its inventory of "lost mail", freight claims and abandoned freight.
Ine Cain/Insider
We drove just a few minutes to Lost Cargo, which was owned by the same owner of Treasure Hunt.
Ine Cain/Insider
Lost Cargo's shop was much more organized and spaced out.
Ine Cain/Insider
This location featured more high-end inventory
Ine Cain/Insider
These Ralph Lauren dresses are just a few of the many. Although there was less of a "treasure hunting" aspect to the shop it still emphasized its reliance upon "lost mail."
Ine Cain/Insider
Soon, it was time for the mystery purchases to be unwrapped. The viral TikTok showed surprise purchases that included Louis Vuitton items. Were we so lucky?
Ine Cain/Insider
It appeared that the first item was a tablet case. It was fine.
Ine Cain/Insider
The second package, a large tube with two taped ends and opaque ends, contained nothing. We had purchased an empty cardboard tube. That was all we paid with our money.
Ine Cain/Insider
The third purchase was, in some ways, the most confusing. We checked the return address and discovered that it was attached to a Rosemead PO Box.
Ine Cain/Insider
The PO box has been linked online to several scams. It was difficult to find the truth with the wooden contents.
Ine Cain/Insider
You're more likely to pick up garbage if you shop in a store that has a business model that resembles dumpster diving.
Ine Cain/Insider
I can still see the attraction that the prospect to find buried treasure holds for many customers. I did find at least one cheap, fun knickknack among the troughs. It's not every day that you can say you found the Ark of the Covenant in a Evansville, Indiana store.
Ine Cain/Insider
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