J & J Junk Sale

I don’t really know what to compare this place to. Slightly a country hardware store, two parts thrift, and a yard full of patio statues, it’s quite an adventure to explore. But the name sums it up. Most of this stuff is just junk. From everywhere and every time. They’ve been collecting this stuff for so long it’s challenging to dig through it all. But if you’re devoted you’ll probably find something worth digging for.
Also, not the cleanest or most organized store. But it’s huge.

I have been to many thrift stores in my life, but I have never been to a place like this.
When you walk up there is a front porch area with furniture and gardening stuff (they were selling potted flowers in full bloom). Everything else you will find inside. There is a main room, a side room, and a back room. The back room – where the clothes, kitchen stuff, electronics, and toys – is the biggest of all, though it is not air conditioned or heated. The other two rooms, where everything else is, are temperature regulated.
I would say this is definitely a place you should go if you are into the whole «rummage for treasure for hours» thing. There is a lot of stuff to see and a lot to go through. I suggest you have some things in mind to look for, because this place is overwhelming, even if you are used to big thrift stores.
Things you can find here en masse:
— crafting and sewing stuff (patterns, fabric scraps, yarn, old sewing machines, etc)
— books (some of the shelves are three rows deep, but a lot of it is romance novels)
— concrete yard decoration (go ahead and get that tombstone picked out)
— clothes (there really isn’t an inordinate amount of clothes but it’s kind of organized by size?)
— kitchen stuff (aisles of stacked plates, old appliances, glassware, you name it)
— toys
— old electronics (cameras, keyboards, some computer parts but nothing super awesome like
— tools and hardware supply (we barely even breached that section)
— vegetables (they sell tomatoes and sweet potatoes in one of the rooms, I assume from someone’s garden)
— and of course, more, but that is the general gist of what you can find here
The only negatives about this place is that everything seems to be covered with a layer of dust. There is some OLD stuff here, and some of it is just plain junk. I get the feeling they don’t rotate their stock ever. The boyfriend and I went on a particularly muggy day, and while we were overwhelmed we also just felt too sticky to want to touch anything. Again, there is a TON of stuff here, so come prepared with some things to find, because it’s not too terrible of a drive but it would be silly to go all that way and come back empty handed. Personally I would rather hit up any of the large thrift stores in the Birmingham area, and save this place for special needs (like gardening equipment) or to show friends.
Also: they only accept cash or checks.