By Meghan Cooke
Staff Writer
Commons Photo by Meghan Cooke

A West Point uniform dangles from the ceiling while a purple belly dancing costume shimmers nearby. Black boots are aligned along shelves. Gas masks and purple wigs cover Styrofoam heads. Pez dispensers sit in a case beside military pins. The scent is musky, like a familiar old bookshop. Thrift shop heaven? Vintage nirvana? Maybe so, but it goes by the name Surplus Sid’s.

Who is the man behind the surplus? It’s Barry Keith, but he is known simply as Sid.

When questioned about how he got into the surplus business, Sid sat back and said, “Well, when I first got out of prison…”

He paused and glanced up to see if his response had caused any reaction. It had. He laughed and quickly clarified that he had not spent time in prison.

In 1988 Sid opened Surplus Sid’s International Military Surplus in Carrboro. He attributes the store’s success to lots of hard work, pointing out that most small businesses fail in the first year. After almost 20 years of business, though, Surplus Sid’s is alive and kicking.

This native North Carolinian and 1978 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill said that his love of history combined with his business ambitions prompted an entry into the surplus world.

Surplus Sid’s carries an assortment of interesting and bizarre finds. A suit of armor from the 1500s stands in front of a wall of antique swords. There are gas masks from seven countries, including some made in Israel and shaped like small tents with filters. Sid said these were intended for infants and small pets.

Items in the store come from at least 25 countries including Germany, Russia, Israel, England and Vietnam. Finding these items is just a matter of knowing who to talk to; most come from other surplus warehouses around the world.

Sid’s selection is not limited to military surplus. He also has toys, tools, odds and ends and costumes ranging from superheroes to vintage 1960s garb.

With such a variety of costumes and props, Halloween is a busy time for Surplus Sid’s. The store sells and rents out costumes, making it popular for students searching for a one-of-a-kind outfit for the Franklin Street festivities. Sid even accepts special requests and sometimes makes costumes for his customers.

Halloween is not the only time students trickle into the store. Theater groups and party-goers as well as students searching for art supplies find their way into Surplus Sid’s.

Sometimes Sid gets calls from filmmakers searching for obscure items. He said they start off by saying, “I’m sure you don’t have this…” Usually, however, Sid can rummage through the store for a few minutes and find exactly what they’re looking for. Some of the more odd requests have been a glockenspiel, helicopter parts and a 24-foot-high rubber duck.

“Half the fun is being able to come up with things people don’t expect you to have,” Sid said.

His favorite item is one that is not for sale: a bomber jacket from his college history professor. When Dr. James Roy Caldwell Jr. died in 1994, his wife gave Sid the bomber jacket from his time in the Army Air Corps during World War II. She told him that she knew it would be meaningful to Sid. Sid said Caldwell had taught him history and now he has a part of Caldwell’s past.

“Maintaining that is like a stepping stone in history,” Sid said.

While Sid may have an interesting collection, he says the people who visit the store are often the most intriguing part of his job. He described one young man who came into the store looking for a Batman costume. After buying it he put it on and then ran down the streets of Carrboro yelling, “I’m a crime fighter!”

Sid said his customers were a “cross section of the planet.”

Sid also recalled a joke he helped play on local paintball enthusiasts several years ago that involved dressing a former 7-foot-tall UNC basketball player- who Sid said would probably prefer to remain unnamed - in a “Predator” costume.

“People were having coronaries out on the field,” he said.

Amid the costumes and war memorabilia, Sid also sells authentic military medals, but says he typically only sells them to military veterans. He did recall an occasion when he broke from this.

“In 20 years of business, the only exception I’ve made was for a 9-year-old boy who was being treated at UNC Hospitals. He wanted a Purple Heart,” Sid said.

Maybe it is his big-hearted nature or sense of humor that makes him such a vital piece of the Carrboro scene.

“This business is just strange enough to fit right into Carrboro,” Sid said.

He said some people claim they will not shop in the store because of the cannon sitting outside while others claim it is the best store ever. Regardless, Sid said he is looking forward to a bright future at his location in Carrboro.

“Who knows? One day we might have Surplus Sid’s marching kazoo band,” he said, smiling.

“I always thought the measure of one’s wealth is not what one can live with, but what one can live without. We are very Zen. We just exist. We are.”

*Special thanks to Carrie Crespo for background information.