Industry Overview and Trends Excerpt: Diverse, but united by a bad economy and bargain mania, American buyers and sellers are flocking to flea markets in ever-increasing numbers. "Our two markets closed with the best year we ever had," said Ron Simmons, president of the family-owned, Grand Prairie-based Traders Village flea market. "We opened [2009] with the best first quarter on record as well."… "Our business is very good," said Allan Hughes, Traders Village director of general services. "If you look at the history of the market, you're going to see significant growth in time of hard-to-get money."
In addition to a mind-boggling array of new and used wares, owners have added auto swap meets, Sunday church services, campgrounds, country music and cultural festivals to enhance the draw at weekly and monthly flea markets.
Source: http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/news/article.asp?
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Excerpt: It would seem that discount destinations like flea markets should be immune from the recession's effects, and managers of several local flea markets say that business is better than ever. But stroll around the venues and talk to individual vendors and you'll hear complaints. The recession has hit them, too, though some say not as hard as it might have. They are keeping up, but sometimes just barely… ''[Retailers] like Ross and Marshall's do very well in an economic downturn because consumers are looking for the value, and they're not as willing to trade time for money,'' she said. However, low-quality merchandise being sold cheaply will suffer, she said. Since customers can get good deals at major discount chains like Wal-Mart, they might overlook ''cheap'' merchandise at places like flea markets… Vendors who sell basic items, such as clothing, or traditional flea-market fare like souvenirs, said while sales haven't been booming, they make a decent living.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/103/story/971655.html
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Excerpt: Whatever the draw, customers are flocking to resale shops — a sector that includes thrift stores, consignment shops and others. And sales are up dramatically… Because cash is tight, sales at luxury stores, department stores, even regular apparel stores are declining. All those categories declined between 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent during the first nine months of year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Resale shops join discount stores and wholesale club stores, such as Costco, as retailers that do well during economic downturns. Sales at discounters such as Target saw a 2.4 percent increase and wholesale clubs saw an 8.1 percent increase… Tough times also bring new customers who never shopped resale stores before, said Meyer. About 80 percent of her association's members saw an increase in new customers. Other factors play into the increase at all resale shops, too, workers say. The public is becoming more aware of the importance of recycling, label lovers continue to search for designer brands at cheaper prices, and people are becoming more savvy about tax deductions from donations.
Source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/6036835.html
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Excerpt: At Craigslist, which has become a kind of online flea market for the world, the number of for-sale listings has soared 70 percent since last July. In March, the number of listings more than doubled to almost 15 million from the year-ago period. Craigslist CEO Jeff Buckmaster acknowledged the increasing popularity of selling all sort of items on the Web, but said the rate of growth is "moving above the usual trend line." He said he was amazed at the desperate tone in some ads… Economists say it is difficult to compare the selling trend with other tough times because the Internet, only in wide use since the mid-1990s, has made it much easier to unload goods than, say, at pawn shops. But clearly, cash-strapped people are selling their belongings at bargain prices, with a flood of listings for secondhand cars, clothing and furniture hitting the market in recent months, particularly since January.
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2008Apr29/0,4675,CashingOutTheAttic,00.html
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