Shopping
New Bargain Binz store at York Galleria is like a treasure hunt – prices drop $1 each day
Bargain Binz at the York Galleria benefits customers, employees and charities
Gavin Smith, the owner of Bargain Binz at the York Galleria, describes the unique model of his business that benefits customers, employees and charities.
A new business focused on giving customers great deals and paying its employees a livable wage has opened in the York Galleria Mall.
Gavin Smith, owner of the new Bargain Binz in the mall, said that the store was busy all day on opening day, Saturday, May 4.
“We had about 40 or 50 people waiting to get in before we opened,” Smith said. “We heard from other businesses in the mall that they also saw an uptick in business that day from our foot traffic.”Bargain Binz is focused on taking liquidated items from online retailers and creating a shopping “adventure,” where customers rummage through bins of items to search for “treasures,” Smith said in an email.
The price is $7 an item, no matter how much the item cost originally, on new stock days, which are Saturday. The price then decreases by $1 per day, until Friday when it’s $1 per item. What doesn’t sell is donated to charity and the cycle begins again.
“The idea of this was wonderful because you’re not just a fixed price from the beginning and you’re not like every other retail store walking in hoping there’s a sale. Every day is a sale,” Smith said.
He added that some of the items the store had in stock on Saturday were worth hundreds of dollars, but they were sold for $7 each.
Smith said that his main focus is treating his employees well, not getting rich.
“We believe our best asset is our staff, and they always will be. So instead of just cranking every penny out of this capitalist machine, I’m going to give them a livable wage, I’m giving them two weeks’ vacation, I’m giving them paid sick days,” he said, adding that he’s over-staffing the business on purpose because he doesn’t believe in under-staffing. He will also give them free snacks and drinks, and he offers a profit-sharing program.
Bargain Binz will start employees at $18, and that will jump to $20 after 3 months of probation. Employees also get paid breaks and lunch, and there will be the potential to move to a 4-day work week while being paid for 5 days.
“We also offer a dress code that supports the individual, letting their personalities free within the space, as we feel that happy staff make for happier customers and better interactions,” Smith said in an email.
Smith said his business model is based in-part on a British proverb, which says that “if you pay peanuts, then you get monkeys.”
“We’re offering a British-style benefits system because of my upbringing in the UK and the vast differences between British workers’ rights and that of the U.S. My hope is to set a shining example to other employers that you can invest more in your staff and still produce a hefty profit, both making your own life and that of your employees that much better,” he said.
Bargain Binz is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m., except Friday when it closes at 5 p.m. Smith said the company caters lunch for its employees on Saturdays from 1:30 p.m.- 2:30 p.m., so the store is closed during that time.
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