Smallwood said she and her husband, Ty, were inspired by various urban flea markets around the region, including The City Flea in Cincinnati.
“We’ve gone down there for years and to be honest … I didn’t like having to drive down there and drive back home,” Smallwood said. “It was really inconvenient to do on a weekend.”
Smallwood said she started brainstorming how to mount such an event in Hamilton, which is drawing parallels with Cincinnati in terms of urban development, including a soon-to-open brewery.
The idea was met with enthusiasm on Facebook, with many people volunteering to help. When it became clear that funding would be an issue, Smallwood applied for a grant through the Hamilton Community Foundation, which provided money to get the project off the ground.
Smallwood’s vision for each installment of The Hamilton Flea includes 35 to 5o “quality” vendors who specialize in handcrafted goods and unique, high-quality services, and between three and six food trucks. A deejay will play music to provide “a fun and lively atmosphere and vibe,” she said.
Much like other community events, like the RiversEdge concert series, Alive After 5 and Operation Pumpkin, Hamilton Flea organizers want the event to become an integral part of Hamilton’s revitalization efforts and a staple of city life, serving as a place that will “celebrate all things local,” Smallwood said.
Besides aiming to be an engaging, free community event for families and young professionals, Hamilton Flea also is setting out to be a small-business incubator, she said.
“Ideally, these folks do this as a side business or this is their full-time small business that they’re launching,” Smallwood said. “One of our long-term goals is to try and funnel some of these vendors into storefronts in Hamilton.”
City officials have been supportive of the idea, as well, encouraging Smallwood to start a focus group to determine what would work best, where and when.
Event organizers initially talked about holding Hamilton Flea at RiversEdge Park & Amphitheater or Fitton Center for Creative Arts, but city officials instead steered them toward German Village Plaza, which completed construction late last fall in a part of Hamilton being revitalized via its CORE Fund, said Adam Helms, Hamilton's director of resident services.
“We’re seeing a lot of good movement down there with fixing up properties and then you come in with an event like this … and you start to get some real momentum going there,” Helms said. “This is huge. It’s one of those neighborhood event activities that everybody can gather around.”
Smallwood said Hamilton Flea constructed its 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. timeframe around a desire to let people explore neighborhood businesses like True West Coffee, Almond Sisters Bakery and Jackson's Market & Deli during the event, then visit restaurants during Happy Hour after the event ends.
“We wanted to really embed ourselves as purposefully as we possibly could so that folks could literally spend all day in Hamilton,” she said. “They could stay here, their money could stay here and they would have an enjoyable time and there would hopefully be something for everybody.”
Hamilton Flea is scheduled to be held May 14, June 11, July 9, Aug. 13 and Sept. 10. For more information, visit www.hamiltonflea.org or email info@hamiltonflea.org.
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