What is a Target Salvage Store

When I first heard of the notion of a Target salvage store, I wondered if there were any near me. My research led me to Marden’s Surplus and Salvage in Maine. (We moved to Maine from Pennsylvania in mid-2023.)

In case you didn’t know, a salvage store is where retailers send their excess inventory that didn’t sell. You may know them as liquidation centers, bin stores, bargain outlets, salvage merchandise stores or some other moniker.

Anyway, when I visited Marden’s, I discovered it is way more than a Target salvage store. I found products from lots of name brands–many that surprised me.

Why did they surprise me? Because these were high-end brands that I’ve purchased at well-known stores that were not Target. And they were dirt cheap at Marden’s.

Photo by Leah Ingram

What are Target salvage stores

Target salvage stores like Marden’s get their inventory from a variety of sources. I mean, including discontinued items or overstocks from Target, Marden’s stocks its stores from the following:

• insurance salvages
• closeouts
• liquidations
• natural disasters

I can tell you that on the day I visited, I was able to determine where some of the inventory came from beyond Target.

For example, I noticed these boxes of Kirkland dog chews. Well, if you know anything about Costco stores, then you know that Kirkland is the store’s private label brand. Therefore, I can say with confidence that Costco is one of the places sending its overstocks to Marden’s and I should add that this is a Costco salvage store, too.

Photo by Leah Ingram

Also, note the price on the box of 72 dental chews. They are $12.99 for the box.

I checked on the Costco website to see what these boxes sell for originally. There I found the exact same box of 72 chews selling for $36.99.

However, since I’d gone to Marden’s because I was told it was a Target salvage store, I wanted to let you know that I did find a few items that clearly came from Target. Because if you’re a frequent Target shopper like I am, then you can recognize the Target price tags like I did on these Stranger Things and Marvel boxer and sock sets.

Photo by Leah Ingram

I’m guessing these were sold during the holiday season as gift sets and, well, they didn’t sell well. You can see that they were originally $9.99, then marked down to $6.99 and finally $3.99 at Marden’s.

J.Crew, Madewell and more

Photos by Leah Ingram

As I mentioned it was easy to figure out that Marden’s is more than just a Target salvage store.

Here are some of the retailers and brands that I spotted while there:

• Calvin Klein
• Comfortiva shoes
• J.Crew
• Macy’s
• Madewell
• Natori

I mention the Natori bras because that’s the brand I tend to buy at Nordstrom. Well, in the bra section I found two Natori bras that I’d spent north of $100 for at Nordstrom a few years ago.

How much were they at Marden’s? $14.99. Yes, I bought both.

Stitch Fix overstocks

I know that many online styling company have their own resale programs. That is, you can buy gently used products from them at a discount.

I’d always wondered what Stitch Fix did with its overstocks. Well, now I know. They sell them to salvage stores like Marden’s.

While going through the clothing racks, I saw brands I’d received in my past Fixes, such as Collective Concepts, Papermoon and Kut from the Kloth.

In addition, I found some clothes from the 41Hawthorn brand. Not familiar with that? Then you must not be a Stitch Fix customer.

I’ve been using online styling company Stitch Fix since 2015 and know that 41Hawthorn is a Stitch Fix-exclusive brand.

Photos by Leah Ingram

Pixi by Petra makeup

Another brand that I’ve purchased at Target is Pixi by Petra makeup. I first learned about Pixi when I received that brand’s mascara in an Ipsy makeup box.

So, I was thrilled to see all of these Pixi makeup products at the Target salvage store. And can you see those prices?

Photo by Leah Ingram

For example, the eye pencil at the forefront was originally $12 at Target. Then, Marden’s Surplus and Salvage store marked them down to $7.19. And, on the day I visited, I could take another 50% off that price–so I would pay $3.60 plus tax.

Here is that Pixi by Petra Endless Silky Eye Pen available at Ulta, which is now inside many Target stores. You can also buy Pixi by Petra products directly from Target.

Other Target salvage store names

In addition to Marden’s in Maine, here are the names of some of the other stores across the country that work on a salvage and surplus model and could have Target overstocks in them. Note: many of these are regional stores so they may not have locations near you:

• Bargain Hunt
• Dirt Cheap
• Ocean State Job Lot
• Ollie’s Bargain Outlet

In fact, while in Pennsylvania I visited an Ollie’s location. The only evidence I could find that it was a Target salvage store was this: a bin of Cat and Jack children’s tops.

If you didn’t know, Cat and Jack is the Target brand of children’s clothing. Also, it comes with a one-year warranty.

Sometimes, even places like Goodwill, The Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore locations end up with merchandise from Target and other national retailers.

Marden’s return policy

When I checked out at the register, I guessed that my purchase would be a final sale. Well, I was wrong, very wrong.

Marden’s offers what it calls a 30-day “No Fuss” money-back guarantee. This assumes that you still have your receipt, the tags are still attached and what you bought is still in its “original condition.” For example, if you bought shoes, you didn’t wear them.

Of course, just because Marden’s lets you make returns to its salvage store, that doesn’t mean that all of them do. Therefore, make sure you understand the store’s return policy before buying anything.

Amazon liquidation store

It seems that Marden’s could qualify as an Amazon liquidation store, too. I say this because I found products marked down there that I’ve purchased on Amazon. This includes Otterbox Defender phone cases and the Amazon Dot smart speaker.

Here are my Amazon Alexa hacks.

Photo by Leah Ingram

Also, there were special signs around Marden’s with the headline “Internet Salvage Stock” like the one below. That says to me that this stock did come from an Internet retailer like Amazon.

Photo by Leah Ingram