Wintering at the Alpine Flea Market

After a successful summer working the antiques and collectibles markets of southern Wisconsin, I find myself migrating inside once again for my 9^th winter season at the Alpine Flea Market right here in Rockford.

The main benefit of returning to this location is that it’s about 5 minutes away from my home. And…it’s the only game in town.

During these months, there’s no 2-hour pack-up and no 1½-hour drive, after that, to get home. The weather here is now cold, getting colder, and one just wants to go straight home quickly at the end of a day. Now, I just shut the curtains around my booth and make my exit, knowing that a cold beer is only five minutes away.

Also, no more 4:30 am starts for a while…These days, I don’t open until 10am—so I can sleep in occasionally—and can close up my booth anytime in the late afternoon and be home in time to see the end of most pm football games, both college…on Saturday, and pro…on Sunday. This may seem insignificant to many, but I enjoy watching football during this time of year…and the job kinda gets in the way. So I work around it.

By moving back to the Alpine Flea Market, however, I’ve been thrust once again into a world of Heartlanders that have been exposed to limited education, travel and culture. They’ve also got less cash in their pockets than my summer antique-buying customers. As a result, prices must be low to force them to part with some of that much-needed cash.

Many are subsidized by the Federal Government and usually get their checks on the 1^st of the month. Business then is usually good. As weeks go by, there’s usually too much month at the end of the money and business drops to a trickle.

Yet, I’ve known these people—many on a 1^st name basis—for years now and I’m no stranger among their ranks. In fact, it seems that EVERYONE there knows me… They’re good people, for the most part, albeit a little lower on the socioeconomic scale than my neighbors to the north.

My set up this year is currently spread out over 3 booths. Last year I had 4 booths but, this year, the demand for booths from the local Mexican population has made me scramble and settle for less. Glad I could acquire 3 booths, as many dealers are left out in the cold (literally) with no indoor spaces left to rent.

During this time of year--and for this particular market--I deal in NFL fan apparel (with concentrations of Bears and Packers’ items), CDs, leather jackets, Northwoods collectibles, designer jackets @ $5, beer signs, and, most recently, work boots.

The majority of the clothing was collected during the warm months when people were selling these items, cheaply, at garage sales. But acquisition is an ongoing process, though occasionally seasonal.

I run an ad for CDs weekly, however, and its response is enough to keep my selection strong year around in that category.

But the real fun part of the business, right now, is acquiring designer jackets cheaply, so that I can sell them for $5 and still make a profit. No easy task…

Here’s how I do it:

The local thrift stores color-code all the items they put on the shelves, by the week. Then every week, they have a half-off sale on a certain color.

So, I head out first thing every Monday morning in search of half-off leather jackets, as well as other good buys…

Then on Tuesday, they have a 5-for-$5 special of that same sale color. What this means, is that one can acquire lots of those on-sale items for just $1 each. And in town with a population of over 100K, there are lots of quality sale items to choose from and I’m especially interested in the jackets, which I snap up by the armloads…

I sell about 11 of these jackets @$5 per day. (Sat. & Sun.) I don’t think anyone in the country can offer brand name jackets like: Woolrich, Pacific Trail, Colombia, LL Bean, Eddie Bauer, Carhartt, & Field and Stream for so cheaply. Fortunately, I have a large selection in storage so I shouldn’t run out of inventory until well after the New Year.