On a recent Saturday afternoon in downtown Mountain View, groups of people filled the outdoor seating at restaurants along Castro Street, dogs and their owners strolled the sidewalks and minutes after the Don't Eat Me storefront opened its doors, people shuffled inside. The pop-up shop recently opened in a previously vacant space on Castro Street, selling original artwork, stationary, clothing, accessories and home decor from Bay Area artists.
The concept has drawn huge crowds across Europe because some shoppers abroad have found everything from collectable gold bars to rare Pokémon cards worth up to €2,000. The start-up said that it buys lost e-commerce packages, repackages them and sells them in their "original state", offering shoppers a "real-life treasure hunt" and said it prevents thousands of items from being destroyed. However, it's worth noting that after my visit, a huge amount of packaging was left behind.