Walmart: Sterilite Drawer Price Reduction!!

[Peppermint Pig]

Good news everyone, and castlebuilder100 in particular who seemed interested in this storage solution, Sterilite drawer towers have come down in price at Walmart, likely due to economic conditions.

My brother went in the other day and saw that the 3 Drawer model was listed at $10, down from $15. Formerly, it was priced around $13, but went up in price during the latter half of 2008.

A note of warning concerning Sterilite Wide sized Drawers: I hear they're flimsy, so you shouldn't consider these for storing lego, unless its for BURPS or other bulky items that aren't too heavy. If you're looking for the wide drawers, last I checked BigLots had them marked around a dollar less than Walmart at $19.

Actually, for bulky objects, as well as all sorts of general purpose storage, I would recommend what I believe is the Sterilite 28 Quart Storage Box (Model Number 1846), which is a transparent tote container with lids coming in several colors, such as white, dark green, red, orange, and brown ( Close to the Dark Flesh lego color ). Walmart lists these at around $5, which is pretty good considering the storage capacity. We use them for our Bricklink store and they're awesome. They stack very well!



I would appreciate it if someone could verify the sterilite drawer prices at Walmart since we didn't see all the models. The regular 3 drawer, 5 drawer (3big, 2 small), and 7 drawer (3big, 4small) ones in particular.

[KingDavid]

Nice. My local Wal-Mart also has 2 packs of 5-cup sized rectangular containers with lids for $1.00 per pack. That's what I use for my smaller arch pieces like 1x2x4s and modified 1x2 bricks.

Of course, these days I'm simply stashing a lot of my smaller parts in round 2-cup size containers with lids that I get at Dollar Tree in packs of 6 for $1.00. These work great for 1x1 plates and 1x1 tiles.

For the larger stuff, I'm still using 6 quart Sterilite containers with lids that I can get at Dollar Tree for $1.00 each. But I need some better storage methods. I'll try to check at Wal-Mart in the next few days and see what they have and post some prices on what I find.

[puddleglum]

I got this a few weeks back at Wal-Mart for $32:


It's a lot of storage for the price, and the four upper shallow drawers are nice. I'm subdiving the upper drawers with these trays, found in the kitchen organizing section 3 for $1:

[Peppermint Pig]

That appears to be a new model of wide sterilite drawer, guessing from the photo and the slim profile of the top drawers. Very interesting.

I wouldn't advise using slotted baskets like that if you're obsessed with keeping everything in its place, though There are cheap made-for-food collapsible storage solutions that might work for your task, though.

[porschecm2]

I bought several of those 7 drawer(4 small, 3 big, and slightly narrower than Puddleglum's) configuration models over the summer to help house my collection. They work great. I got them at Wal*Mart, and at least then, they were only $20 each.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3355734

Cm2

[Peppermint Pig]

I may just go ahead and buy a wide sterilite drawer set, provided I can get one with small drawers like that. Baseplate storage would benefit from that.

I bought several of those 7 drawer(4 small, 3 big, and slightly narrower than Puddleglum's) configuration models over the summer to help house my collection. They work great. I got them at Wal*Mart, and at least then, they were only $20 each.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3355734

Cm2

In 2008, 7's priced at around 24, then in spring they dropped to ~19 but they went back up in the summer. It suggests their pricing is seasonal. I wish they sold a compatible model that was just small drawers, since they seem the most useful for all those less common colors and elements.

I am happy to hear you were able to get a few of them while the pricing was good. Have you ever tried stacking them?

We completed one side with sterilite drawers, though it doesn't go to the ceiling anymore. I figured it'd be better to have that open space to pull down totes, rather than relying on a step ladder to grab the high drawers. We've just begun another side but it doesn't have small drawers yet because of the high price on 7's:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10459273@N05/3242799697/





We remodeled the modular tables into a T shape to improve access for bigger builds we're planning. It's a real mess at the moment.

[porschecm2]

Ya, I eventually want to have a wall of them too. I've got a few more that aren't shown in the picture there, because they don't stack on top of the others since they're too tall for the ceiling. At my size of collection, I'd rather get more of the short drawers like the top 4 than the deep ones like the bottom 3, but Wal*Mart doesn't carry them.
Stacking them too high is precarious--they tend to sway side to side. The stepladder wouldn't be a problem for me, since I'm quite tall though.

Cm2

[puddleglum]

About the thinner 7-drawer model - I was at Walmart this morning and checked, it was selling for $28, which seems steep. I didn't carry one over to the price checker to confirm, but the section looked well organized, so I imagine that the price on the shelf was correct. The name on the tag sounded right. As far as the size, the model I mentioned I 2x the width of the thin 7-drawer set.

Peppermint Pig - I thougth about using the food storage containers, but when I was looking, they were all of the ziplock/glad style, which have a wide rim and are taper out pretty far on the top, which makes them not fit nicely in the drawers I was using. I mainly picked the ones I did because they fit so well into the drawers. Eventualy I will block of the sides for the trays holding 2x3 and 2x4 plates. Anything bigger than that really is not a problem. Any size brick, even 1x1, does not fit through those slots. My smaller bits are being stored elsewhere.

[KingDavid]

Wal-Mart generally puts the number on the product's bar code on the price tag located on the shelf. You can match them up to confirm if it's the right item or not. They don't do it for all clearance items, though, but they do for most of them.

[Peppermint Pig]

Ya, I eventually want to have a wall of them too. I've got a few more that aren't shown in the picture there, because they don't stack on top of the others since they're too tall for the ceiling. At my size of collection, I'd rather get more of the short drawers like the top 4 than the deep ones like the bottom 3, but Wal*Mart doesn't carry them.
Stacking them too high is precarious--they tend to sway side to side. The stepladder wouldn't be a problem for me, since I'm quite tall though.

Cm2

I have noticed slight swaying as well. I use velcro straps and attach them in the back to help keep them uniform. I can reach the top drawer as well, but it's sometimes more convenient to have a step ladder, else the very top drawer will be difficult to add items to and you'd constantly be pulling the drawer out.

Our ceilings are just the right height to fit drawers evenly with about an inch of clearance. If you have this sort of narrow space, the suggestion is to somehow fit a towel up there, causing the drawers to be more stable and less prone to falling in case of some unforeseen disaster such as an earthquake.

Peppermint Pig - I thougth about using the food storage containers, but when I was looking, they were all of the ziplock/glad style, which have a wide rim and are taper out pretty far on the top, which makes them not fit nicely in the drawers I was using.

You're right about that. They do have a wide brim now that I recall. You'd have to use some kind of tiny tote. Maybe theres a small square shaped tupperware container that could do it, making it like a giant tacklebox tray.

About the thinner 7-drawer model - I was at Walmart this morning and checked, it was selling for $28, which seems steep.

That IS steep.

At that price, you might as well buy a wide drawer set for $4 more at $32 because it's approximately 2x the space, and can store larger items!

Please let me know if there's any problem pulling the large drawers out if they're filled with lots of items/weighed down. That's the main concern I have with the wide model.

Even with the regular sterilite towers, once you start stacking them and adding weight, the very bottom drawer is tight to pull out. This is because there is a lack of support/bad engineering for the very bottom frame sitting on the floor. That said, I have these on carpet, and that might be why... The lip under the drawer which is part of the frame bends up creating less space to pull it out. This could probably be solved with a little MacGuyver engineering.

[puddleglum]

Please let me know if there's any problem pulling the large drawers out if they're filled with lots of items/weighed down. That's the main concern I have with the wide model.

Even with the regular sterilite towers, once you start stacking them and adding weight, the very bottom drawer is tight to pull out. This is because there is a lack of support/bad engineering for the very bottom frame sitting on the floor. That said, I have these on carpet, and that might be why... The lip under the drawer which is part of the frame bends up creating less space to pull it out. This could probably be solved with a little MacGuyver engineering.

The bottom drawer is a bit snug, but it's not at all difficult to pull out. I've got the thing about about as loaded down as it could be, basically every drawer is full of 1-gallon ziplock bags of LEGO.

[carljackson47]

I have seen the benefit of using Sterilite drawers as the best storage solution. They easily fit any given space and are durable. I started buying them to minimize the clutter of my little boy. Now he can just throw everything inside after playing.