FleaSpeech

The flea market: your repurposing resource

It's no wonder that the Alternative Consumer blog caught up with Sue Whitney at Hell's Kitchen Flea Market recently during a book signing for Junk Beautiful. Flea market fans include a lot of environmentally conscious consumers and designers.

Copies of Junk Beautiful are available at Hell's Kitchen Flea Market's information booth at the special price of $20.

Repurose

A strong segment of flea market shoppers includes those who repurpose old things of a more miscellaneous nature. No wonder flea market fans include environmentally conscious consumers and designers. With a bit of creativity (and sometimes some basic DYI supplies) an old birdcage can be transformed into a lampshade, an incomplete vintage croquet set into as an umbrellas stand.

(Photo: Old card catalogs show up at flea markets from time to time. Many libraries have switched entirely to electronic cataloging and no longer need their old card catalogs. Bits and Bobbins highlighted the repurposing of an old card catalog as attractive storage or organizing furniture.)

Foot traffic at Hell's Kitchen Flea Market

As New York Magazine declared in August 2006, Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market “has settled in for good.” Foot traffic at Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, running the block of West 39th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues, is at an all-time high. It's offering residents and tourists alike an always-changing (and growing) inventory of vintage fashion, decorative arts, and design treasures. There's a real committed core of vendors and dealers there.

Why does it take a while for a flea market to get its bearings though? Because change costs time, money, and energy.

Locations change (Hell's Kitchen instead of Chelsea).

Customers change (Post-eBay young professional in Manhattan are a growing chunk of today's flea market customers).

Tastes change. (What's hot now is mid-century antiques--1950's and 1960's decorative arts and furniture; also, vintage clothing is hot.)

New flea in Bethlehem, CT

There's a new flea marketing opening in Bethlehem, CT! Learn more online here.

V-v-vintage

Vintage Violent visited the flea market last Saturday (say that three times real fast) for her website.

Brrrrr. Was cold last Saturday at the market!

You can view a slideshow of her market pics here.