Dec 6. This was the first time we did this flea market in many
years. We intended on doing the event in November, but it rained
cats, dogs, elephants, etc. Rather upscale Flea Market and one of
the best in the area. Held the first Saturday of each month.
You can download a copy of
the application here and get info,. Applications are accepted
(mail in) beginning the 1st day of the month prior to the event.
The weather was really nice on Saturday. Early morning chill but
warmed up to around 65 degrees during the afternoon. Great weather
to bring out the crowds, which were pretty decent, I guess that
the bargain hunters are the first one's out and they get there a bit
before 8:00. Later in the morning, the crowds came out and
scampered from aisle to aisle, many of them towing their red metal
shopping carts and dragging their husbands,
When we arrived there around 5:40, it was still dark, of course and we
were located in row Q-28. They checked our ID and our sheet number
with our space number on it. We then drove down the side aisle
searching for our row. I turned right onto what I thought was
aisle Q and we drove over and parked in space 28. These spaces
were tight...exactly the length of our van. There was nobody in
the space next to us yet, so I knew that we had better hurry up and
unload our canopy and grids because if the vendor assigned to that space
came in, we'd be in deep....well, you know.
We pulled out our bags containing some of our merchandise and placed it
on the ground. Took out the canopy and set it up.
Continuing, we removed some buckets and then began pulling out the grids
and putting them in position and bungy-ing them up. After we had
about 8 of them set up, a lady comes over and asks 'Which row is this?"
I look her and tell her 'Q'. She then tells me otherwise.
Row P. Oh my gosh...how the heck did we do this. Another
trip into the Twilight Zone. In our fifteen year of doing shows,
we never ever set up in the wrong space.
So, we put a
couple grids back into the van and tossed the sacks and buckets back in
and drove over to the next row. They helped us carry the canopy
over to our space, lifting it up and over a car that was in the way.
Slick. I parked in our space...fortunately thee was nobody next to
us and we would be able to unload....however, very quickly. That
is one thing I really dislike about this Flea Market...spaces are so
tight, you can not get things out of the back of the vehicle if somebody
is parked behind you. Solution: Get there early.
Sales were slow throughout the day as people were mostly looking for
typical flea market items...one dollar, two dollar, five dollar stuff.
Wreaths sold like crazy. We do not normally do flea markets
because we do not have the right merchandise for them. Street
Fairs are what we like. Right there on the street...easy in...easy
out most of the time. Do not like shows on the grass...do not like
to go inside.
There were numbers of younger teenagers who must be enrolled in the
'Five finger discount class' because we did encounted some who attempted
to steal from us, but the watchful eye is indeed quicker than the hand.
One person wanted to purchse one of our $5.00 mini stools for $3.00.
Uh uh. Another was going to purchase one of our ladybug fanny
packs we had selling for $10 (discounted from $12). I had told her
the price two times. She held it up in front of me and said 'Five
Dollars?" "No, uh uh," I said to her. "those are ten
dollars.' 'Oh, I thought you said five dollars'. I then
replied "What do you think this is ... a flea market." We both
laughed and that was that.
The weather was great all day and the clouds began forming early
afternoon. I don't think I ever saw such a dry November and
December. Good for vendors, I must say. A huge majority of
us have been struggling all year long in this economy and we need all
the good breaks we an get.
People began packing up around 1:30-2:00 and so did we. Not a
great day, but enjoyable nonethe less. Still poor.
