TEXAS STORE

Ever wonder what happens to all the things left at Texas airports from knives to corkscrews to power tools? Yes, power tools to luggage and jewelry. Everything is shipped to the state surplus store in Austin where it's cheaply resold. Kins5 reporter Mikey Menace took a short drive up I-35 to see what deals he could find. Every year, tens of thousands of knives come to the Texas surplus store in Austin. You can find a variety of items on sale from retired state assets Last year, we had an aircraft from DPS sell for a million dollars. They also carry all things surrendered or left at TSA checkpoints. You, for example, take off your jewelry and you forget to pick it back up, or you leave it in your carry-on. All of those types of items. The Texas surplus store is open to the public. Kristi Fierro, director of the state surplus program, says the storefront and online auctions stay busy year round with customers of all ages out to find a deal. Any customer type that you can imagine finds their way here and we enjoy them. I mean, it's a lot of fun. It keeps the day very vibrant. Fierro says their top item is your knives and sharp objects or anything that could be used as a weapon. Those are most frequently taken by TSA agents and end up in their hands and they have a lot. We fill this up this morning. By tomorrow morning, it probably won't look anything Sometimes people get upset that we don't fill them enough. Jeffrey Neely, program specialist, says one of his favorite jobs is sorting the knives. Definitely one of my favorite. It's pretty interesting. I come to it. It's pretty fun. Just the wide variety of things we find makes it entertaining for sure. Most knives sell for just a buck, but some can cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars. USA S45 being still retail for a little over five. But there's also things state agencies hand over to. Think of anything that a state agency retires or no longer has a need for. Among those cars. Behind me is the vehicle lot here at Balm Road at our state surplus store. And it is basically example of all types of different vehicles that come from all state agencies within the Austin area. Hundreds of vehicles are sold a year and mainly through an online auction with bids from hundreds of dollars to thousands. Some are sold on site. Their most popular vehicle is the DPS Tahoe. We have a lot of first time car buyers. We have a lot of second vehicle buyers. We have a lot of farm buyers that want a truck for the ranch. So really there's just a huge, huge range of customers for this type of vehicle. The store also features a massive warehouse. Fiero says you'll be surprised at what you can find at the surplus store and all price to move all the money made goes back into covering operational cost. So long term investments for the program to make us stronger and better to serve the people of Texas. So next time you're in Austin and want a unique shopping experience, take some time to visit. You just never know what treasure you might find. Mike Aminus, KINZ 5.