After the closing of Macy’s at The Federal Way Commons in 2021, a new liquidation store called Save By The Day now occupies the space, where shoppers can find overstock items from Costco, Target, Best Buy and more at an enormous discount.

“I’m very happy that I can help people in the community buy the things they need,” said co-owner Mahfooz Hejran. “It’s a good way to serve back to the community because people don’t have a lot of capital to buy things at full retail price.”

Since its “perfect” opening day on May 21, Save By The Day offers its customers high quality items they would find at their favorite stores but fair below the retail price. Large couches and recliners that would sell at Costco for over $1,000 or high-quality vacuum cleaners from Lowe’s are offered at Save By the Day for as low as 40% off the retail price.

Big item tickets have their own prices but there are several large bins in one section of the store that have different prices on different days, said Hejran. Restock days are on Fridays (the only day the store is closed) where Hejran says they can receive up to 20,000 new items.

Most items in the store go directly into the large wooden bins, where the price of each item becomes lower with each day.

“We wanted to make your shopping experience to be like a treasure hunt,” said Hejran.

Brand new items, which range from clothing to toys to kitchen utensils, start out at $9 on Saturdays, $8 on Sundays, $6 on Mondays, $5 on Tuesdays, $3 on Wednesdays and finally $2 on Thursdays.

Hejran and his business partner Mohammad Rashed Rasooly became friends in 2018, a year after Hejran had moved to Federal Way from his home country in Afghanistan. Before moving to the United States, Hejran worked as a Human Resources manager though he always had a penchant for retail.

“I had this dream to get a business there [in Afghanistan]. I was going to sell things like garments, but it’s very difficult to live there now,” said Hejran, who is working towards helping his family immigrate to the United States.

While Hejran worked in H.R., Rasooly worked as an accountant professional before the two became inspired to open Save By The Day after visiting a similar store in 2021.

“I went to California and I saw a store that had falling prices and it gave me the idea to have my own liquidation store and then I saw Cheaper by the Day in Lynnwood and the owner there was very open and supportive,” said Hejran.

Part of Hejran’s pride in Save By The Day is that it offers relief to people who may be struggling.

“When I moved here, I started from zero,” he said. “Everywhere has raised their prices and everything is so high, but wages are low. People are going for their needs and we offer them that.”

Save By The Day is located at 1901 South Commons in Federal Way and though it occupies the old Macy’s department store, the entrance is accessed only through the interior of the mall.

Save The Day is open Saturday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Thousands of new items are stocked at a fraction of the retail price at Save By The Day. Photo courtesy of Save By The Day.

Items offered in the Save By The Day bins are priced down every day until they are sold. Photo courtesy of Save By The Day.

Co-owner Mahfooz Hejran (left) sells a coffee maker and other home items to a customer at Save By The Day. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.