Ax-Man Surplus Stores — Local services in Saint Paul

It's been a while since I have been out, and a longgggg time since my last review. I moved had surgery and now finally back on my feet, slowly but back, but enough of me for now, on to my finding. For those of you that know me I love not only to eat, (not that the little budda belly gives it a way!), I love to shop. My partner in crime, whom I have moved in with, for years has been telling me about this place Ax-man. So we went, this place if you have never gone, you gotta check it out. It's like a garage sale/flea market in a building. There is so much stuff for almost any thing you are looking for. I couldn't even begin to list everything, but just a little bit here, pet stuff, posters, BBQ utensils, numerous colored duct tape, biohazard stuff, electronics, bins of screws and bolts, nails, wheels, signs, cups, tickets 🎟, amount stickers- like for garage sales, wire, rope in colors(cord) and weight, sockets, puzzles, small baggies(don't ask 😂) ok just kidding, but small ones for beads, jewelry any thing small, magnets, bearings, speakers, cassettes, crt tunes, call on these they might not have at certain stores, for those of you youngish ones out there those are for the old school tv's, backpacks, glass bottles and cork stoppers, there is so much stuff, so if you have a few hours and want to look for something you have been looking for, or just want to check it out, definitely go to this place because it blew my mind and was allot of fun. And the staff, they are friendly, great and knowledgeable. They know where you can find out of the thousands of items, (probably more), what you are looking for. ...

Ax-Man has been one of my all time favorite stores since I discovered it over 20 years ago when I was an 18 year old sculpture major, & have returned to it frequently over the years. It has all sorts of stuff you didn’t know you needed at prices that are insanely cheap, from body bags to really really inexpensive but good quality “Gator Board”-like foam board, in huge sizes, for a fraction of the price of art stores, to medical, surgical, chemistry, biological research and lots of engineering and nuts and bolts and motor parts. Dental instruments. Various kinds of fabric and wire that they will cut for you at great prices - for me having a place to buy lots of mosquito netting in bulk is incredible for paper making molds & deckles, instead of buying expensive small pieces of mosquito nets at REI, and lots of burlap for my various sculpting ventures, and hell, probably gardening!) The staff is great and super helpful, they helped me by cutting the fabrics, found some tubes for me to put paper in, helped me with dental instruments & forceps at the counter, got boxes to put all my stuff in (all sorts of other things, KN95 masks, emergency flashlights, a bunch of collapsible buckets, and so on, & I’ve bought lots of medical and chemistry supplies there before). If you find it and think you need it buy it then and there because it might not be there next time! The staff also helped me because I had a walker get my stuff out to my car- in a storm! Nothing can beat...

Since being put on about this place back in 2020-21 I've always loved this store . It's a neat place with fun merchandise and I love the locality of the store , but recently my friend visited this store with her service dog and one of the employees made this comment to her : "Sure , just go head and lie about your dog being a service dog like everyone else" . My friend instantly shut down without knowing how to respond and just suddenly left the store . Her dog is an actual service dog and she felt embarrassed by that male employee's comment and just chucked it up as never giving this store business again . It's rly disappointing to say the least to be made aware of this incident because I am the one who introduced my friend to this store with a lot of pride . One thing I will say is , she's better than me because I would have cursed that employee all the way out before leaving . I don't care how it sounds , that comment was so entirely RUDE , DISRESPECTFUL & uncalled for . Some comments/thghts are meant to be kept to one's self . I find that comment exceptionally unprofessional and that employee should have been reprimanded indefinitely . Next parade of service dogs I get within my possession I'll consider making a friendly visit to Axeman as if it's the dog park and I dare an employee to talk crazy to me . What a disgusting example of customer service . Period ....