The Cultured Girl

While visiting my grandfather this past weekend in Lumberton, Mississippi, my mom joked that I should do a write-up on the town for the Cultured Girl. But while shrinking former sawmill towns in the South aren’t exactly Cultured Destinations, Mississippi offers at least one hidden gem that no cultured girl should miss: Hudson’s Dirt Cheap and Treasure Hunt stores.

Stay with me here, because Hudson’s is a Mississippi Institution, and if you relish like the scavenger-hunt-like thrill of shopping at thrift stores and sample sales, these places will astonish you. They are sort of like T.J. Maxx, acting as clearinghouses for what other stores can’t sell, but Hudson’s goes a step further—it’s what CEO Bill Hudson JR. calls an “opportunistic purchasing company.” Hudson’s initially bought damaged merchandise from insurance companies; if a grocery or department store suffered a fire or a flood, Hudson’s would resell the goods in its stores. It later expanded the concept to include customer returns, irregulars, and goods damaged in freight or warehouses. Today, the company has 28 Dirt Cheap stores in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana and six more sophisticated Treasure Hunt stores in Mississippi.

Both stores are great, with the grab-bag of merchandise changing daily, but each has its individual charms. At Treasure Hunt, you’re more likely to find designer steals from department stores: One Cultured Girl reader bought a stylish and well-made wedding dress for $180. But Dirt Cheap, which is more likely to have salvaged goods from Target and the like, is even more fun, with literally piles of smoke-tinged, out-of-the-box, and slightly damaged merchandise. (For example, you might find a set of four really cute martini glasses priced at $2 just because one of them is broken.) On my most recent trip, my mom and I got two bags of loot for $40, including a very nice lace bra and the perfect straw hat for $5 each.