From setback to storefront: Vendors rebuild after Flea Market Tallahassee closed
What started as a loss for dozens of Flea Market Tallahassee vendors has become a new beginning on Crawfordville road.
I'm Lyric Sloan, your Southwest Tallahassee neighborhood reporter. I found two vendors who refused to give up, opening up shops, right here in Crossway Shops, that are now a lifeline for their families and possibly yours.
That sound means business is open, but not long ago, for dozens of Flea Market Tallahassee vendors, that sound went silent.
When Flea Market Tallahassee shut down, many small vendors lost their main source of income overnight. One of them Morales Market.
"It was a really big impact. My parents had to go find other jobs for like, a few months. So they actually worked in the fields, and it was like a big toll on my family, because they weren't used to, I guess, being in the sun every day," Michelle Morales, cashier at Morales Market, said.
Morales Market was a vendor at Flea Market Tallahassee for 17 years.
So, when the news broke that the market was closing, emotions ran high.
"A sense of panic, because I've been at the Flea Market since I was four. I was in college at the time, so I felt like I needed to help my parents, but I really didn't know how I could do that," Morales said.
Some former vendors have managed to relocate for now, operating out of Crossway Shops on Crawfordville Road, turning a setback into a storefront.
"I think that was a good change that we found ourselves a new place," Omar Faruk, Seafood and Retail Market Owner, said.
"What happened at the flea market was I guess, a blessing in disguise, because I think if that didn't happen, my parents would have never done I guess the next step to opening up a store," Morales said.
The Flea market's closure didn't just affect vendors. It changed a community.
"Well, when they closed, the convenience of getting seafood was very inconvenient," Sylnovia Jones, Tallahassee Resident, said.
"I would no longer had nowhere to go to come do our local shopping," John Harris, Tallahassee Resident, said.
When the flea market closed, Faruk said he worried most about the neighbors who would have to travel farther or walk to higher priced corporate stores.
Now he's glad he can offer that convenience again.
"A lot of the folks, they don't have a car, they rely on busses. I see these people almost every day for the last four months in a row, and they've been thanking me every single moment that they can walk here," Faruk said.
While Flea Market Tallahassee may be gone, many vendors hope the sense of community and security the Flea Market Tallahassee provided can still survive even in a new place.
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Ricki Lake reunited with family photos found at Pasadena flea market
Patty Scanlon paints women with soulful faces, and that's precisely what she found when she bought a box of vintage inspiration photos from the Pasadena City College Flea Market.
"I just thought, 'Oh that woman's beautiful and I love her vibe," said Scanlon.
However, it wasn't a stranger in the snapshots; it was a familiar face.
"I'm looking at this woman, who I think is really cool and soulful, and I thought, 'I think this is Ricki Lake," Scanlon said.
Her instincts were right. It really was the Hairspray actress and iconic 1990s talk show host. Scanlon intuitively knew she needed to get this box of photos back to her.
"I'm in show business because I'm an actor too," Scanlon said. "I went on Facebook and said 'Do any of you know how to get in touch with Ricki Lake?' I posted a few of the pictures and then, like in two seconds, there was Ricki Lake."
Almost immediately, almost like magic, Lake got in touch with her.
"You guys, the craziest thing happened," Lake said on Instagram.
Lake went on Instagram with Scanlon to share their story with the world.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Lake said. "Because all of it was gone in the fire."
Lake's home, along with all of her family photos, burned down during the Palisades Fire earlier this year.
"I really cannot thank you enough for your generosity, making the effort to find me and the fact that I'm going to get something back that was lost forever," Lake said.
Scanlon, who is also an actress, said she found a postmarked envelope in the box and believes Lake mailed it to a relative, along with the photos and a thank-you note. She wondered whether the images had been relocated during an estate sale.
"It was like it was meant to be," Scanlon said. "It's like this thing in the universe that said, 'You're going to get those photos, and you're going to give them to Ricki. It's like the Twilight Zone but an upbeat one."
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