MORENCI — If you spend a lot of time looking for discarded, thrown-out and used items, then you have to find something to do with them. Branden Kaufman and his mother, Ann McClure, opened The Grab Shack in Morenci as a place to sell all the stuff Kaufman finds along the way.

The Grab Shack opened a year ago on Main Street in Morenci, then Kaufman and McClure moved the store to its current location on North Street in July. The building originally served as the Hal C. Blair Hospital in the early 1900s, and still features the original fireplace and wood parquet flooring from that time. 

Business has improved since the move to North Street, McClure said, because of available parking and a better location for foot traffic. 

Kaufman, who is a content creator, likes to dumpster dive, buy abandoned storage units, shop garage sales and buy liquidation pallets. He makes videos of his adventures and posts them on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok, and has 3 million followers between two of those platforms. The name of the store came from an idea from one of his subscribers. 

The idea of opening the store came from the need to sell the things he finds. Because he lives in Morenci, it seemed like a good place for the store.

“I accumulate stuff, so I just wanted to have a spot to bring my stuff to sell,” Kaufman said, “and bring something different to Morenci.” 

The store is a combination of a thrift shop and a liquidation shop as well. The merchandise is both new and gently used, while the used merchandise comes from dumpster diving and garage sales. New merchandise comes from Amazon and Kohls, and is priced from 30% to 60% off. McClure said the ideas for merchandise come from customers’ suggestions.

“It’s been kind of like a trial and error, what people want,” she said.  “We bring in things people want that you can’t find anywhere else in town.”

Items for sale may include personal care items, crafts, toys, DVDs, household products, electronics, tools, outdoor items, appliances and seasonal goods. New to the store are five-gallon buckets of laundry detergent. The merchandise and specials change every week.

“You never know what you’re going to find,” McClure said.  

The Grab Shack is located at 124 North Street, Morenci. More information is available by email at grabitfast@gmail.com or via Facebook. Hours vary weekly and are posted on Facebook on Sundays.