Thursday, February 14, 2008

Shenanigans at the rose bowl flea market

Last Sunday, I accompanied Juicy Exchange to the Rose Bowl Flea Market. This is the biggest flea market in Southern California. Period. The flea market is once a month, and I have always wanted to check it out. So helping them out would be a great opportunity to scope the whole scene out. There, we sold new vans and rainboots.

We arrived very early. Instead of setting up shop, we all walked around, seeing what inventory had been placed for sale. Mounds upon mounds of vintage clothes, old shoes and boots, and anything you can think of. (I have to make it a point to start carrying my camera everywhere, it would have been fun to post some pics of my day here.) I think the most striking items were the modern, eames era, '50s coffee tables and side tables. I would have bought them in a heartbeat if I had a place to furnish. Other than that, I really didn't see anything that was a must-have. Although, later in the day, I did buy a few (new) blouses.

I am so used to walking, browsing and looking at everything. I enjoy being outdoors, and enjoying the good weather. Being on the seller side of a booth is very different. You wouldn't believe the amount of inconsiderate customers there are. The business of selling shoes is rough. Having a trailer with a million different styles and sizes, there is a lot of running around. It's cool to start talking to a customer, ask them what they like, what size and all of that pertinent info. You get them shoes and they try them on, perhaps they may not buy them. BUT there are those custmers you build a repoitoire with, you go to the trailer, you come back out and they are GONE. What is up with that? Couldn't a simple "nevermind" or "no thanks" be in order???? Believe it or not, this happened more than once. It is insane and I have such an appreciation for retail and food service workers. I couldn't deal with that on a daily basis.
For next month, I will be bringing some of my vintage clothing to sell. It would be nice to get my stuff sold and acquire different items. :-) I also decided to open an online shop. I know I have been teetering on that for a while now. But I've made the decision, finally. Details later.