After a rare snowstorm shut it down, Tallahassees beloved flea market is staging a major comeback, with a new location, renewed purpose, and strong support from local entrepreneurs.
Tallahassee Flea Market Exchange’s tentative open date is Oct. 10. Eugene Larry, President of the Tallahassee Flea Market Exchange, announced the new beginning after a snowstorm shut down the last one. Watch the video below to learn how vendors feel about the Flea Market coming back. Tallahassee Flea Market set to return with new location and big community hopes
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Get ready. Tallahassee’s Flea Market is making its long-awaited return next month.
But it will be in a different location this time.
Vendors and organizers are already preparing for what they hope will become a new weekend tradition.
“You never know who you are going to run into at the flea market,” says co-owner of Midtown and 3rd Eric McKinnon said.
For more than 40 years, Tallahassee’s flea market was a gathering place for neighbors on the weekends.
But this year, a rare snowstorm ripped through the area.
The damage forced the market to close its doors indefinitely, leaving local businesses without a place to sell their products.
Eugene Larry, the president of the Tallahassee Flea Market Exchange, said, “I just want to say to the community at large that I and a couple of other investors felt your pain, we felt your anguish.”
Larry says the market will soon set up shop in Capital Circle. He hopes the return will revitalize the south side and give local entrepreneurs a place to grow.
Eugene said, “It’s a sense of belonging, a sense of responsibility to our community, our community as well. There are a lot of jobs lot and businesses closing down on the south side, so to be able to have that opportunity to reach back and create something that will support our community, that to me is the most important exciting thing there is.”
The change will benefit local businesses like Midtown and 3rd.
But they say the market is more than just buying and selling.
McKinnon said, “It actually means a lot to us, being able to be vendors. We get out. It’s exposure. We know that a lot of other people miss the other flea market. It was an outing. People get to go out as a family. They go out, and they shop economically. So for us to be able to be a part of that and help as a vendor out there, it really means a lot to us because we’re from Tallahassee.”
The market is expected to reopen on October 10 at 4721 Capital Circle Southwest.
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