Deal Finder brings 'unique' shopping to Cape Girardeau

A deep-discount department store with new, brand-name merchandise has its grand opening today, just in time for holiday shopping, said owner Justin Albright.

Albright, who with his wife Athena also owns The Andrew Jackson Bridal Co. in Cape Girardeau, said they’re always looking for a new venture, and this idea has been with him for a couple of years since he visited a store such as this in another state and found it “addicting.”

Deal Finder is a discount store, Albright said, set up in departments including apparel, baby items, electronics, housewares, sporting goods, some furniture, some home and garden items and general merchandise.

“How it works is, we buy things in large quantity by the truckload,” Albright said, whether a company is liquidating assets or unloading overstocks. “We then sell it at a very significant discount.”

Albright said when it’s time to price the items, a lowest base price is determined by checking online, then a discount comes off of that, so online retailers aren’t going to undersell Deal Finder’s prices.

“It’s a really unique sales model,” Albright said. “There’s nothing like it in Cape Girardeau.”

Albright said, “Our inventory always changes. There’s always something new.”

Albright said he expects a new truck once a week. A customer can come in and see something one day; next week, there’s a different set of deals.

Because the merchandise is bought by the truckload, Albright said, he never knows what they’re getting until it’s unloaded.

“We’re not ordering specific items,” Albright said. “We’re just stocking based on department. It’s pretty exciting.”

Each truckload is brought into the warehouse facility on Rust Avenue.

There, it’s repackaged and priced, packed onto another truck and shipped around the corner and down the street to Bloomfield Crossing, where Deal Finder is the anchor store.

At 15,000 square feet, Albright said, the space is surprisingly large because of how deceptively small it looks from the outside.

Albright said Deal Finder isn’t selling cheap knockoffs.

“We have everything from little 50-cent or $1 bargain bin discounts all the way up to furniture items marked down from several hundred dollars,” Albright said.

“It’s a lot of high-end product for significant discounts, just because of sourcing methods,” Albright added. “There’s good variety; something for everyone.”

Today’s grand opening celebration is during regular business hours — from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

342 S. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.