Gee: Wait, what?! Seattle’s ‘Inconvenience Store’ is selling stuff you absolutely don’t need
Oct 6, 2026, 9:27 AM | Updated: 9:56 am
A collection of vintage toys are displayed. (Photo: ira_lichi via Envato)
(Photo: ira_lichi via Envato)
Seattle has never been afraid to be a little weird, but this might be peak Seattle. Two local artists have transformed a former 7-Eleven into something called the “Inconvenience Store,” an art exhibit designed to look and feel like a convenience store, except instead of grabbing a Slurpee and some beef jerky, you can buy things you absolutely, positively do not need.
We’re talking pre-tangled USB cords. Yep, pre-tangled. Apparently we’ve reached the point where you don’t even have to wait for the cord in your junk drawer to become a mess. Somebody has already handled that inconvenience for you.
There’s also a Bluetooth landline, an iPhone that reportedly plays only one U2 song, and ceramic eggs with faces. Wait…WHAT?!
More than 70 local artists contributed pieces to the project, with items reportedly ranging from a buck all the way up to $10,000. I can’t lie, I LOVE THIS!
Not because I’m about to spend ten grand on something I could’ve found underneath my couch, but because we live in a world where everything has to have a purpose.
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Everything has to be productive.
Everything has to make money, save time, improve your life, or somehow become “content.”
Sometimes something can just be funny, while art can make absolutely no sense. Turning an old 7-Eleven into a store filled with useless stuff people can actually buy? Yeah, that’s pretty funny and creative. That’s Seattle.
Now here’s the question I want you to answer: what’s something completely useless that you KNOW you don’t need, but you’d still spend money on? You know you have one. Before you judge the person buying the pre-tangled USB cord, take a good look around your house. I promise you, you’ve got your own Inconvenience Store in there somewhere.
And oh, I’d buy a used Atari 2600 console.
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