The Salt Lake City Flea Market and Swap Meet opened for winter season for the first time, hosting the market indoors at the Utah State Fairpark.
The market is connected to the Urban Flea Market, which runs one Sunday a month May through October. These outdoor flea markets showcase vintage, antique, homemade, upcycled and recycled goods.
Now that the summer season of Urban Flea Market has ended, co-founder of the market Kate Wheadon said, “There has been a lot of need and demand for a year-round market, especially one that goes in the wintertime and one that’s on a Saturday.”
The Salt Lake City Flea Market and Swap Meet is the answer to that demand, says Wheadon.
Vendors at the market sell a plethora of diverse products, from signature fudge, to homemade bath salts, clothing, art, books, pottery, jewelry, furniture and much more.
Each month will be different, says Wheadon. “About a third of our vendors are reserve vendors, so they’re going to be here every time, and the other two thirds rotate through, so you never know what you’re going to find because there’s always new stuff.”
Most of the items are vintage or repurposed in some way. “Everything we do is reclaimed, upcycled or recycled in some way, shape or form,” says vendor Brenda Hess. “It all started its life out as something else, and we turn it into what you see here.”
Upcycled objects seemed to take the forefront. Upcycling is a trend which involves taking something old, used or broken and turning it into something new.
“All of our products come from something that was probably going to go to the dump. And we go out, and we save it, and we repurpose it, and we give it new life. … People like to save things from the garbage, and, you know, they’re beautiful pieces. It’s just fun,” said Hess.
While the market usually draws people who like doing these types of projects, it also attracts people who just generally like upcycled goods, such as attendee Kendra Stone. “I don’t do a lot of crafting, but I like it. I like to buy it,” she said.
Besides upcycled items, vintage items were also a big hit, with several vendors selling vintage clothing, books, jewelry and records. “Well, I’m reminiscing about my childhood. They remind me of things that we had in my childhood,” said Stone.
Throughout the winter, the market will be open once a month, with next month’s market being held on Dec. 17. Information about subsequent markets can be found on the Salt Lake Flea Market and Swap Meet Facebook page.
“We want to be one of those signature markets in Utah,” said Wheadon, “You know, when people say ‘Hey, we’re going to Salt Lake,’ ‘Oh you should check out the Salt Lake City Flea Market and Swap Meet.’”
