A dare from a nine-year-old turned into one of Bountiful, Utah’s more distinctive thrift destinations. Lost and Found Thrift, run by the Rodda family at 75 East 500 South, started roughly a dozen years ago with a single chalk ware statue of Babe Ruth eating a hot dog and about 600 dollars of starting capital, according to owner Cheryl Rodda. What began in a cramped 700-square-foot storefront has since grown into nearly 8,000 square feet of retail space, filled with furniture ranging from shabby chic to genuine antique, home goods, knick-knacks, toys, movies, games, sports cards, dolls, and kitchen items, plus a section the Roddas specifically built out as a man cave so the store would not feel geared exclusively toward women shoppers. That intentional balance, a place where guys browsing sports memorabilia feel as welcome as anyone hunting vintage kitchenware, is part of what regulars say sets the shop apart from typical secondhand stores in Davis County.
The business runs largely on word of mouth and Facebook rather than paid advertising. Photos and listings posted to the store’s Facebook page at facebook.com/utahthrift let customers browse and purchase items remotely, with the store holding claimed pieces for up to 48 hours, a flexible system Rodda credits with building the shop’s following well beyond walk-in traffic. Bountiful sits just north of Salt Lake City in Davis County, and the shop has become known locally not just for its size and constant turnover of secondhand goods but for its willingness to rent out items, mainly to schools for theater props and wedding planners for event decor, with past rentals stretching as far as commercial productions for BYU Broadcasting.
One detail that has drawn particular local attention: certain pieces in the store are considered haunted, a claim the Roddas have had confirmed by outside paranormal investigators. Rodda has described hearing her own name called out in the store, items falling from shelves with no clear cause, chandeliers spinning on their own, and unexplained sounds when no one else is present, and customers specifically ask staff to point out the haunted inventory. Beyond the novelty, the shop has a strong community-service side that gets less attention than the ghost stories: the Roddas keep the business intentionally lean on full-time staff and instead work with group homes and halfway houses on one-on-one rehabilitation efforts, giving people a place to volunteer and rebuild routine. Each holiday season, the store also plays Santa for a local family in need, posting the family’s specific requests on Facebook and collecting donations from customers to fill them, a tradition Rodda says grew simply out of someone caring enough to start it.
Lost and Found Thrift can be reached at 801-231-0017, and posted hours have the store open Monday through Saturday, though shoppers should check the shop’s Facebook page for the current weekly schedule since hours can shift day to day. Longtime shoppers describe the staff as consistently welcoming, and the store’s reputation has built almost entirely through that kind of word of mouth rather than formal marketing. Between its nearly 8,000 square feet of furniture and collectibles, its prop and event rental service, its community rehabilitation partnerships, and its well-known haunted items, Lost and Found Thrift in Bountiful, Utah stands out as a family-run secondhand store where browsing for a bargain can turn into a genuinely memorable local story.
