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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Kentucky Flea Market shifts location inside Expo Center amid expansion
Since the mid-1970s, Terry Stewart and his family have brought numerous flea markets to the Expo Center.
“This is our 437th show out here since 1974,” Stewart said. “It’s amazing. I was a young pup when we started.”
Traditionally, the flea market is held in the West Wing Pavilion, but according to Stewart, ongoing expansion at the Expo Center made that impossible.
“With all the construction going on there, we really didn’t have another choice,” Stewart said. “They took away things like drive-in access.”
The market has moved into South Wing A and B. Though the change was made out of necessity, the shift has turned out to be a boon for the show. According to Stewart, the new location has been almost universally well-received by sellers and shoppers alike. If the trend continues, South Wing A and B could become a permanent home for the market.
“If things keep going the way they are going and sales stay strong, then we will probably end up staying here,” Stewart said.
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