Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/ WBZ NewsRadio
SOMERVILLE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Somerville Flea returned for its 12th year on Sunday, Aug.4 in Davis Square.
Greg Ghazil founded the market in 2012, and it’s grown triple the size, hosting more than 40 vendors this year.
“It definitely has become more popular with Covid,” he told WBZ NewsRadio on the first day of the flea market. “People were looking for things to do, hobbies. They were tired of shopping online.”
Thrifting and vintage shopping are a popular and affordable alternative for Gen-Z as inflation and the cost-of-living crisis continue to exacerbate. According to a WGSN report, 40 percent of Gen-Z turns to resale for purchases, and the secondhand market is expected to grow even bigger than the global apparel market.
“If you look at a lot of the stuff, especially older pieces, how they’re made, they’re made really well, and they’re made to last and that’s why they have lasted,” Wiley, owner of High Energy Vintage, told WBZ NewsRadio.
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Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/ WBZ NewsRadio
While the sellers at the Somerville Flea can't predict what kind of stuff appeal to their shoppers, they brought just about everything that'll stand out.
Wiley added that although his specialty is curating vintage clothing, he also brought out records and other unique antiques to the flea market, “like a German monopoly game from the 1960s,” he said. “Who knows what people are looking for out here," he continued.
For him and many vintage enthusiasts, that’s the beauty of buying vintage: that it might be “one of a kind.”
“When you have a piece of vintage clothing, it’s unique,” Wiley said. “It’s not something you’re going to find at Marshalls. You might have the only surviving one of it.”
For one shopper at the flea market, that’s the kind of stuff she was looking for when she found a pair of Harley Davidson shoes. "[those] certainly aren’t in production anymore," she said.
The Somerville Flea is open every Sunday through the end of October.
WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports:
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