SAUGUS — BinStar, a store that provides customers with an opportunity to shop for discounted and previously returned items from big-box retailers and e-commerce websites, recently opened at 880 Broadway.
BinStar’s newest location is the company’s third store, and its first in the North Shore area.
BinStar CEO and founder Jack Laughlin said that the stores create a “treasure-hunt retail adventure” experience for customers.
Laughlin’s desire to start BinStar came from his time working at a large e-commerce company, where he found that a large number of returned items were being destroyed because there was nothing else for the company to do with them.
“We’re solving a very big problem in retail, including e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores,” Laughlin said.
With locations only in Massachusetts (Avon, Brighton, and now Saugus) so far, Laughlin said that BinStar is aligned with the state’s culture.
“Massachusetts is sort of the home of discount retail,” Laughlin said. “People miss that sort of treasure hunt, quirky, novel, discount retail experience that they might have grown up being used to.”
Why Saugus? Laughlin said that it felt like a “natural new home” for the newest location of BinStar, and that the store fits well alongside the retailers that are also on Route 1.
Laughlin estimated that there was a line of 200 to 300 people waiting to get into the store during its opening on Saturday, and said that it “blew away” the expectations of the BinStar team.
“It was really fun just seeing the folks from different communities across the North Shore come together,” Laughlin said.
Laughlin said that he enjoyed speaking with customers at the store’s opening, adding that the BinStar team is very proactive when it comes to interactions with customers.
“Overall, people were excited, and sort of intrigued with us, like, ‘What’s going on here?’” Laughlin said.
“We did not expect the turnout that we received, and we’re really grateful for the turnout… it’s still kind of hard to believe that that’s actually what happened,” he added.
Laughlin said that BinStar is open to expanding to more locations in Massachusetts, in addition to the rest of the New England area.
The town’s BinStar location is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
