FLEA FIVE WRAP UP

It's been just 2 weeks since the Fifth edition of the Funky Flea happened and the reviews are unanimous-a HUGE SUCCESS!!  We estimate that between 2500-2800 people came to the everson Plaza to shop, eat, listen to music and just absorb all the funky goodness.  Many thanks to the volunteers, patrons and the vendors who had such a fantastic array of funky goods!!  Stay tuned for details in the spring of 2015 on the next edition of Syracuse's most funky flea market!!!

Vendor Spotlight #3. Meet Brittany Berns and the Rising Stars Girls Scholarship Program

Our third and final vendor spotlight focuses on a very unique vendor at the Funky Flea-grad student Brittany Berns, who will be  selling hand made items to fund the Rising Stars Girls Scholarship Program!

Brittany is a graduate student at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, getting her degree in Public Administration.  She served in the Peace Corps in Benin, West Africa and while there, she became passionate about furthering educational opportunities for girls.  She started the Rising Stars Girls program in 2011 and will be selling bags and bracelets made in Africa to fund the program.  100% of the money Brittany makes at the Funky flea will go to the Rising Stars Girls.

The Rising Stars Girls started with a modest $200 donation and a goal of providing uniforms, tuition, school supplies and  computer classes for girls in Benin.  The 5 girls in the inaugural program received help in these areas and also in creative writing, public speaking and mentoring by female leaders.  There are many challenges faced by the participants.  They often have trouble concentrating on their studies due to poor nutrition and many do not receive familial support of their desire to be educated.  The girls are not experienced at expressing themselves verbally to adults, particularly males, which can be problematic when they are taking the oral component of the National Exams.  Happily, this has not stopped the Rising Stars Girls program from growing and there are currently 20 girls enrolled.  And the program now boasts it's very first members of University!  Two Rising Stars Girls are currently attending public University at Parakou.  They are both the first members of their families to attend college and the money they receive from the Rising Stars Program helps with their room and board. 

Brittany will be selling various hand crafted items at the Funky Flea to raise money for the Rising Stars Girls.  She will have bracelets that are made of hand dyed, woven grass-made by the women in the village of  Tampegre, Benin.   

And hand crafted bags made from fabric selected  at a market in Benin.  She will have change purses,  market bags and computer bags-all made with beautiful colorful fabrics.

The makers of the bracelets know that their wares are being sold to fund girls education, a fact that makes them both happy and proud.  Brittany has built great relationships over the years with these incredible women!

The items sold at the Funky Flea will fund a few new programs for the 2014-2015 school year for the Rising Stars Girls.  Brittany is visiting in August and hoping to implement a school meals program, peer mentoring and an after school play program.  Please support this very special program by purchasing something from Brittany at the Funky Flea!!!

 

 

Vendor Spotlight #2 Meet Ginger and June!

Our 2nd vendor spotlight focuses on 2 fun loving and funky ladies who have been involved in each one of the Funky Fleas since the beginning.  Meet Linda Lowen and Sue Streeter aka Ginger and June!

These two "thrift chicks" have been scouring flea markets and thrift shops in CNY for years and will be presenting their curated collection of upcycled items,  vintage home goods, orientalia, and hand painted tchotchkes at the 5th edition of the Funky Flea.

A little background.......

These ladies met in the mid 1990s, when they kept running into each other at trunk sales in Armory Square.  They were both fans of the Bluefish clothing line and attended the semi annual sales that were held in the under construction retail spaces in that neighborhood. One was a redhead, one an Asian American.  Not knowing each others names, they were casual acquaintances until the day Linda tried on a dress that didn't fit.  She handed it over to the woman she had come to think of as "Ginger" and Sue responded "Thanks, June".   And thus a friendship was born.  They have been thrifting together ever since!

They are excited to be debuting their newly formed business at Funky Flea 5.  Ginger and June may be a new business, but these ladies  are no strangers to the Flea-they have attended or been vendors at each one!  They were truly impressed with the offerings at the first Funky Flea (held in June of 2011 on the Near Westside).   Sue dragged home a massive oil painting in a carved, ornate frame and Linda picked up a beautifully patina'd window frame.  Neither had seen goodies like this at any flea markets in Syracuse-they were hooked!!  They contacted us immediately with a request to be vendors at the next one.   (At the time, we had not even thought beyond having one Funky Flea)   And they have been hawking their wares at all of the Funky Fleas since then.

Sue Streeter (Ginger) is an artist, retail manager and former gallery owner (Chairz!).  She has designed sets, done craft segments on "Bridge Street with Rick and Julie" and loves to do paint finishing.  Her faux finishing techniques adorn walls, ceilings, cabinets and furniture all over central New York.  Look for her upcycled items at Funky Flea 5!!

Linda Lowen (June) is a writer, radio producer and instructor at the Downtown Writing Center.  She has written numerous articles for MSN Living on style, home decor, design and DIY crafting.  She is an avid collector of funky things and we can't wait to see what she brings to Funky Flea 5!!

                          

Some thoughts on the Funky Flea from these returning vendors:

"The atmosphere is beyond festive -- it is celebratory, and we see every age and stage represented. How many times do you see the faces of Syracusans and CNYers alight with simple delight? A lot of shoppers seem to make a day of it, eating at the food trucks, sitting by the fountains, cooling off in the shade of the trees lining the plaza, hanging with friends and family.

This is what the Funky Flea is about. Not just fabulous finds, but creating community. Embracing an underutilized, often neglected corner of our city and transforming it with music, art, creativity, commerce and energy into a place where people want to linger. The Funky Flea is an event where, by the end of the day, we know we'll make new friends, connections, opportunities, and...oh, yeah...some money."

We are so happy to have these awesome ladies back at FUNKY FLEA #5.  Look for them on the Everson Plaza on June 7th, and check them out online at: www.gingerandjune.com

Vendor Spotlight #1: Meet Shauna from 'maeflowers vintage'

Shauna Diliberto started collecting vintage clothes while on an adventurous and inspirational cross-country trip with her friend three+ years ago. It was then that she discovered what she was destined to do: sell vintage clothing!

FF: I was introduced to your pop-up business, maeflowers vintage, several months ago from a mutual friend of ours. I am excited to sit down with you today to learn more about it. Tell me, when did you host your first event?

SD: It was 6 months ago. I moved back from Syracuse from NYC in October 2013 to start maeflowers and hosted the first pop-up in December.

Why did you choose to move back to Syracuse to start your business?

I am from Syracuse, born and raised and I moved to NYC 11 years ago for college. I stayed there after school and worked for Macy’s merchandising group for about seven years. I merchandised, did a little design and a lot of development for the Martha Stewart collection, so I am big into home stuff! My husband moved down there and then we starting planning our wedding in Syracuse, and every time we came back to plan the wedding, I just fell in love with it city more and more and more. I thought I would never come back to Syracuse! But everything just got “cooler” here. And then a short time after the wedding I told my husband that I wanted to move back to Syracuse and when the timing clicked, we did it. 

So you quit your job, picked up everything and moved to Syracuse!

Yea, I quit my day job cause I really wanted to sell vintage. I had been collecting pieces for, at that point probably three years and it was crowding our small NYC apartment. And my closet was full of vintage pieces that didn’t even fit me, cause I was buying all sizes, knowing that I was meant to sell vintage.

Ha! You probably have a lot more space to store your collection now, huh?! 

Yes! Our third bedroom is my closet/maeflowers storage/random stuff. It’s hard for me to find what’s what so I am trying to work through all that stuff right now. I need to get my own studio space, that’s what I should be doing at this point. But I haven’t figured out what maeflowers looks like; I am still building the brand in my head.

So while you are building your brand, you are introducing the community to maeflowers by hosting pop-up shops. Is this business model working for you?

It’s all really just been crazy. When I first came back I thought I wanted to own my own store, but at the same time I didn’t have the capital to support that and since pop-up’s were so big in the city, I thought they would quickly catch on here and for the most part I’ve been successful getting the word out, the buzz out and people are excited about it, but it is still a hard way to make a living, like just randomly selling a few skirts every couple of weekend. So I need to figure out what the long-term thing is going to be, whether it’s getting studio and selling out of that space. I think my end goal now is to have a space where a bunch of vendors collaborate and we all sell together but I am not really sure where that’s going to go yet. 

I’ve done most of the pop-up shops in the community room at my Aunt’s coffee shop, Café 407 in Liverpool. I typically don’t like to book way in advance, so when I feel the impulse to host a shop, I check to see if there’s a cancelation. I have the inventory to be spontaneous. Recently my friend Liz connected with Adam Gold who owns Funk-n-Waffles and he was talking about his new space that was opening up downtown. She told him about my pop-up shops and Adam graciously loaned me the space for a couple of days in April. He literally gave me a key and was like “go crazy.” So I scheduled a shop that following Wednesday and Thursday and it was awesome, I had so much fun! I didn’t make any money but it was a good experience.

What is the long-term vision for maeflowers?

I’ve been doing a lot of research about the way retail works in San Francisco (I feel like that is the hub of trends, more so than Brooklyn or Manhattan, honestly I feel like San Fran is onto something) and they’ve been doing a lot of collaborating of vendors in big spaces and then they also host a ton of DIY classes. I love the idea of like all these artists coming together and being in charge of their section of the "space" and then in the evenings having "DIY-ing" events where we can all hang out. That is what I would ideally like to happen at maeflowers.

Since you’ve been in town, have you met anyone who shares this vision and could be a potential partner?

There are a few existing businesses such as Curator of Cool which sells vintage furniture in Liverpool who would compliment my vision but I am not even sure if she would be interested…but I see someone doing second hand furniture, I would love to have someone who does jewelry, something different – I feel like I see the same jewelry everywhere I go – and then I would love another vintage clothing vendor. I would love someone who we could breed off each other. I am all about businesses breeding off each other.

From a customer perspective I think people would enjoy going to a space where there were multiple vendors rather than just one. Armory is lacking this! If you go to Austin, TX, there are strips of vintage stores and it’s a community and everyone supports each other and promotes each other’s businesses. I want to see that in Syracuse more.

This will be your first time vending at the Funky Flea event. Are you ready?

Yes, this will actually be my first real flea market selling at ever. And I am really excited!!! I have to get a tent, that’s what everyone keeps telling me, and I need to make a fitting room. I met Jamie Owens from SoSu Vintage randomly recently and she is obsessed with the Funky Flea! She was the one who told me that I had to sell at it.

Should we be on the look out for any maeflowers vintage pop-up shops this summer?

I am currently trying to use an empty retail space on S. Franklin where Spy Babies was, but I haven’t heard back from the landlord yet. I have to push, push, push! There’s also a space that’s been recently vacated next to Starbuck’s on Walton that I am hoping to get into for a few days cause that is a really good space.

Back in April I went to the CNY Wise Conference and I was actually overwhelmingly surprised – there were so many amazing women there that I was once again super inspired. There I met Abigail from Lofo – I went to her new business break through session where she talked about her experiences opening a business and I immediately fell in love with her and what she was saying. She’s offered to let me use the café for a night and she even said she would invite all her friends. I am meeting people like Abigail who are super excited to collaborate.

Well, Shuana, we are all looking forward to exploring your collection at the Funky Flea and upcoming pop-up markets! Follow maeflowers on Facebook and visit her online shop launching soon at www.maeflowersvintage.com.

We've come a long way, baby

It occurs to us as plans for the 5th annual Funky Flea start gearing up......Oh my god!  This is the FIFTH Funky Flea!  There is something about that number that is blowing our minds a bit, because it has all happened so quickly.  The whole thing started with a conversation at a dinner party and within about a month of that conversation-we started taking submissions for vendors.  As we present the fifth version of Syracuse's funkiest flea market, we are proud of what it has grown into and look forward to developing new ideas of what the market should be.  Thank you Syracuse, for supporting our vision since we first gathered on a busted up vacant lot on the Westside in June of 2011.

The Funky Flea hearts you!!!

Check out our fabulous new poster!

Thanks to the insane skills of graphic designer Tommy Lincoln, this year's promotions look dope as ever! Soon you will be seeing these all over town!

The clock is ticking

If you want to be a vendor at the most Funky Flea Market in Upstate NY, you should know that time is running out. FAST! Today is the LAST day we are accepting vendor applications. We are so happy with the variety of goods people have submitted to sell and think that this is going to be the Funkiest Flea yet! So get your application in before midnight tonight....and then do your taxes. They're due tomorrow

Time to apply!!!

We are now accepting applications for vendors for the 2014 FUNKY FLEA!!!  Yay!!  If you want to join us on the Everson Plaza on June 7-please go to the vendor application link on this blog and apply today.  WE ARE ACCEPTING VENDOR APPLICATIONS UNTIL APRIL 14.  If you were a vendor at a past Funky Flea, you MUST fill out a vendor application to be considered for this years market.  Thank you and think spring..................

Um...hello? Spring? Is that you!

Is this wintery weather making you squirrely? Just imagine a sunny beautiful day on the Everson Plaza, selling your awesome vintage goodies. Information on being a vendor for the 2014 Funky Flea will be posted soon!!! Look for it in the coming week...and hang in there folks. Spring is really and truly coming.