I’ve driven past this strange looking warehouse-style store a handful of times on my way to San Ignacio. I was always vaguely curious what it was because of the strange name and mascot (if that’s the right term for it) painted on the building. Well, on our way home from a weekend camping trip I finally stopped in to check it out. It is a re-sale super store. Oh my gosh! This was one of my business ideas for Placencia (remember this post?)!
It’s simple really, like a big ol’ Salvation Army type of place that sells used items. They had dishes, books, tools, chairs, appliances, toys, coolers, and all manner of curio. They seemed inundated with strange bric-a-brac (like, they had half a dozen of those novelty painted ponies people collect in the US. WHY?) but had a bunch of really useful items too such as ladders and lawn equipment.
If you’re comparing Frogman’s to consignment or thrift stores in North America you might be disappointed in the selection or shocked by the prices if you don’t have much experience with shopping in Belize. Belize is generally not a materialistic culture and I think that has a lot to do with the availability of items. Not a ton is manufactured here and importing foreign items is time-consuming and costly so you don’t have the same throw-away consumerism the US lives by. Goods are more expensive, less disposable and all you need to do is scroll through some Belize yard sale/ classified pages on Facebook to see that used items routinely re-sell for over half of the North American retail price. That said, I found Frogman’s to be an intriguing shop with some unique deals. Look at this workout equipment!
They even have a website you can shop online through and a Facebook page you can monitor the ever-changing inventory on. I bought a small ironing board I needed for one of my rental units (now each apartment has a travel-sized iron and board like the BTB wants me to have even though it probably only ever gets used once a year if someone is attending a wedding or something) and a few little glass vases that look like they were discarded surplus from a restaurant supply store. Worth the pit stop. Have you ever been? Do you know of any similar stores in Belize I should check out? Let me know in the comments!
That is an awesome place. I love that re using and re purposing is alive and well in Belize. Yes , here we are a throw away society and that always bothered me. Thanks Megan