The Front Street Flea will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday outside of CD 92.9 in the Brewery District. Credit: Courtesy of Vincent Campise
Those looking for an alternative shopping experience and opportunity to support small local businesses must look no further.
Front Street Flea, a flea market featuring local businesses and vendors, will be held outside of CD 92.9 in the Brewery District from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Savannah Merriman, event coordinator and 2020 Ohio State alumna, said. Sponsored by the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s Columbus Makes Art, the event will feature food, alcohol, a cocktail-making station and vendors selling art, candles, vintage and handmade clothing and baked goods.
“We call it kind of, like, a parking lot party with a flea market,” Merriman said. “It’s just a really fun day where you can come out and hang out. There’s lots to do, and you can spend time here rather than just coming to shop and going home.”
Merriman, who said she used to sell vintage clothing, said she missed being a part of the small business community and decided to start Front Street Flea last year. She said the flea market is held five times a year in order to provide additional support to the small businesses involved.
“I just think there’s never enough opportunities when you’re running a business like that to get exposure and be able to, like, sell your product,” Merriman said.
Mandy Mallott, a local business owner, collage artist and 2012 Ohio State alumna, said she will be a vendor at Saturday’s market. To participate in the market, vendors can submit an application through its website, and Mallott said she was happy to be accepted because she loves being involved in the local business community.
“They are people that I know have a love of creating,” Mallott said. “It’s great to get to talk with them and have them as support systems, and also because we’re all, you know, running side businesses together. You can always have a group of people to go out and ask how they do it, what mistakes they’ve made, so, hopefully, you don’t make the same mistakes.”
One of the things Mallott said she enjoys about local flea markets is seeing the customers interact with the art and products in front of them.
“I love it when I do the Mystic Market sometimes up in Clintonville, and we get a lot of high schoolers that come through there,” she said. “I get so excited for them to get to explore, kind of, the artistic world that they can get into if they wanted to and know that there’s a world out there for them.”
Jamie Seel, designer and owner of Seel Made and a vendor at Saturday’s market, said her leatherwork handbags and accessories are rock ‘n’ roll inspired, which she became passionate about due to their sustainability and reusability.
This will be Seel’s first time selling her work at Front Street Flea, and she said she is excited to interact with the crowd the market gathers because she believes they share similar values for sourcing goods.
“They do a really good job at attracting people that are local and really care about well-made goods that are made by, you know, actual people, instead of, like, larger-scale manufacturing things,” Seel said.
Mallott, who is also a first-time vendor at Front Street Flea, said she does not know what to expect but is looking forward to it because of the element of surprise that comes with going to a new market.
“Every flea market is a different crowd, a different atmosphere,” Mallott said. “I’m really excited to see what their jam is and see how it goes.”
The market will be located at 1036 S. Front St., and admission to the market is free and open to all ages.
