Michael Prendamano’s business model might seem backwards to some.
“I started an online business,” said Prendamano, who less than a year after starting his online resale business opened a brick-and-mortar operation called The Bin Store.
During the pandemic, he experimented with buying products at stores and then reselling them online. Within just a few months, he’d progressed to buying truckloads of pallets of overstocked and liquidated items from major retailers and needed a physical location to sell them. The Bin Store was born April 16.
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In September, he and wife, Jen, an Air Force veteran who operates the business with him, will move from the current 9,000-square feet in the former Rite Aid space in North Augusta’s North Hills Shopping Center to 20,000-square feet in the former Fred’s retailer next door.
“We’ve had a lot of success,” he said.
The concept is simple. The Prendamanos buy in literal bulk and sell the individual items for one flat price. Goods are $6 each on Friday and Saturday; $5 on Sunday; $4 on Monday; $3 on Tuesday; $2 on Wednesday and $1 on Thursday. On Thursday, the bins are cleaned out and restocked, and the process starts over. Excess merchandise has been donated to area charities, he said.
Products range from toothbrushes and health and beauty items to electronics. They also stock some food items. Nothing is past its expiration date.
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“It’s new merchandise. We’ve had electronic gaming headsets, electronic vacuums, phones,” he said.
The Prendamanos have been involved in other business ventures. She has a massage therapy studio in Columbia, and he’s been in real estate. They scoped out possible locations for The Bin Store and saw the potential in the North Augusta market. They like the area, he said.
Michael Prendamano said he likes this business best because of the joy on people’s faces when they find a product they couldn’t otherwise afford. For those going through tough times, it’s a place they can go to cut back on their expenses for necessary items, too.
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“A lot of people are starting to do their regular shopping with us because they can save so much money,” he said.
Product updates are often posted on the Facebook page at facebook.com/thebinstore.
Another reason for the Prendamano’s success is air-conditioning, he said.
Others have done similar businesses, but they often use unairconditioned warehouse space, he said.
The Bin Store is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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