SHOPPERS WHO LOVE THE THRILL OF THE HUNT CAN DO SO IN BROOKLYN NEW YORK

This shift toward the thrift is not exclusive to the UK. Over 20,000 people recently flocked to the new flea market at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn. It was their opening day.

According to the “New York Times,” the reason for this flurry of activity was due to “an unusual degree of pre-Flea hype and chatter in the blogosphere. But the crucial determinant was this: Both nature and scavengers abhor a vacuum. How else would Manhattan Mini Storage continue to exist?”

It is also due to the fact that New York City (like most cities) has lost its small flea markets that were weekend hot spots. And to a lot of people seeking out a gem among the rubble is a great pastime. After all we’re still in rerun season on TV.

“We think of the Brooklyn Flea as a community-oriented shopping stroll, a life as art kind of thing,” said Eric Demby, a former speechwriter for the Brooklyn Borough president, who quit his most recent day job at a public relations agency to join Jonathan Butler, the guy behind Brownstoner.com, to start up the Brooklyn Flea.”

“In a reversal of the traditional American narrative of aspiration, an awful lot of people at the Brooklyn Flea turned out to have ditched lucrative white-collar jobs to hawk goods from folding tables on the street. In a sense, that even includes the Brooklyn Flea organizer Mr. Butler, who toiled in the salt mines of finance until Brownstoner’s success provided him with an unlikely way out.”

If you are a hat designer or hat connoisseur, Flea Markets are a great place to go for inspiration. Hats sell very well at flea markets if you can find someone to hawk your wares. Of course price is a factor here.

Happy Hunting!