Friday Finds: Flea Market Fun
For today’s Friday Finds, we are going to have some Flea Market Fun!
I recently did a reconnaissance visit to Los Angeles for our upcoming Design Crawl, happening the last weekend in May. While driving around the hot spots we have planned for our visit, my daughter and I came across the Melrose Trading Post at Fairfax High School. Seeing the activity and tents we decided to stop and see what it was about. What a treat!
Most of the open air markets I have been to in the last few years have been a disappointment. I have seen the same collection of imported counterfeit goods in Amsterdam, Paris, Toronto, and Vancouver to name a few places.
However, the Melrose Trading Post was a true flea market full of vintage finds including used furniture, clothes, old coins, old military medals, stamps, vintage photos of Hollywood starlets, and other curios.
There were numerous artisans selling their handcrafted jewelry, purses, belts, clothes, artwork, and and one-of-a-kind treasures. Reminded me of London’s Portobello Road Market.
This market was great because it was real – a real outdoor vintage flea market with really cool stuff. Through admission and vendor fees, the Melrose Trading Post awards grants to Fairfax High School organizations for sports equipment, beautification projects, teacher programs, theatre productions, and more – totaling well over seven million dollars since the Melrose Trading Post’s humble beginnings in 1997.
Rings made from old keys
The Melrose Trading Post is operated by Greenway Arts Alliance, a community-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to unite communities through art, education and enterprise.
If you are going to be in Los Angeles on a Sunday, be sure to check out the Melrose Trading Post! If you are lucky enough to be coming on the Designers Collective’s Design Crawl, get excited because we will be going there.
If you have been to some amazing markets, please let us know so we can check them out!
