A place created by a New York couple for small business owners to show off their product of art, vintage items and handmade trinkets. A monthly two day event for vendors and visitors to stroll through the streets of Rice Village and breathe in the excitement of shopping and the environment.
Twenty-four tents and tables lined the usually empty lot on Morningside Drive where couple Emily Yau and Ian Frascati has organized the event that has come to be known as Rice Village Flea, a tribute to the famous Brooklyn Flea in New York.
“A small, yet very fun event,” said Kelsie Gipson, an attendee of the market, “once I started at the first table I couldn’t leave the market without buying a few things before getting to the last.”
Vendors stand by their booths while visitors and customers weave through and around them and other people to examine the haul each have brought with them. This small jewel in Rice Village, allows customers of the Village visiting the usual boutiques and cafes a fresh outlook of small business owners without a storefront of their own.
“We discovered the term flea market doesn’t have the same association that it has in Brooklyn,” said Emily Yau, Event Organizer, “we wanted to do something similar to Brooklyn Flea, diverse and something that appeals to everyone.”
As well as giving small business owners a way to get their business out into the world, Rice Village Flea has also partnered up with the pet adoption agency, The Love Molly Fund. Being an avid dog lover herself, Yau and the organizer of the adoption agency, Julia Long, allow market attendees the joy of adopting their own dog or even putting microchips in a pet they already own, with a donation of $20.
“We always feature a dog rescue, just because I like dogs,” Yau said, “and I’m not allowed to get any more dogs, so I get to help and hang out and pet them.”
Another idea of the market is to give its customers one of a kind items and a place that is easy to get to and from. With hopes of expanding, Yau and Frascati have not yet made any concrete plans of moving, the location of the market, but would like to continue growing the market and are keeping their options open.
Yau’s major concern is finding a large enough location that would offer a similar environment that Rice Village does.
“It’s physically impossible to expand in our current lot,” she said, “we want to keep the name, otherwise we’d have to start over. But I think in the future, as people grow to start to really like these events, I think customers would still come even if we move off site.”
̶ KMV ̶