When students move out of the dorms each semester, what they leave behind ends up on the shelves of Arizona Surplus Store.

 The store also is where you’ll find everything from old printers to bookshelves and desk chairs, computers and file cabinets discarded by the University of Arizona when colleges no longer need them.

The UA ships all of those unneeded and forgotten items to Arizona Surplus at 3740 E. 34th St., off Aviation Parkway. 

The store gives unwanted pre-owned items a second life. Its shelves are stocked with everything from UA-branded clothing and office supplies to furniture and vintage memorabilia. However, only items and organizations affiliated with the University of Arizona are permitted to sell. 

For instance, if the College of Social and Behavioral sciences were to get new desktop computers, the old ones can be donated to the store.

Eighty percent of the proceeds from the sale of an item will go to the customer, while 20% will go to the University of Arizona.

After receiving any item, the first step is determining if it goes into the storefront or auction section,” said storekeeper Paul Tovmaine. “The more prestigious and higher demand items such as electronics will be placed for auction.” 

If a customer wants to auction an item, they must wait for someone else to purchase it. Once the item is sold, the customer will be notified and can then collect their money.

“Once we receive the items, we conduct an initial inspection to determine a price in collaboration with the customer,” Baker said.

UA dormitories experience a significant amount of items left behind at the end of the school year, and store employees eagerly anticipate those drop-offs. 

Students tend to leave tons of stuff in the dorms when they leave campus.

“After the spring semester in 2024, I saw so many students leave behind perfectly good appliances at the end of the semester — mini-fridges, microwaves, you name it,” said Joshua Lambert, who worked in the Arbol dormitory. 

The hi-rise apartment buildings located at the heart of the University of Arizona campus are big contributors to the store. When residents leave the store, apartment employees clean out each unit and organize things in large bins that are picked up by UA representatives. 

“This system works well because our leases don’t end until July, perfectly aligning with the return of new shoppers to Tucson just a few weeks before the start of the school year,” said Dezmond Fermino, leasing manager at the Parker Tucson. 

Unsellable items are recycled, while rare finds, such as vintage lab equipment or decades-old UA memorabilia, attract collectors. The store also accepts used vehicles.

The store is open from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. For details, visit storefront.arizona.edu. https://storefront.arizona.edu/

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.