The Topanga Vintage Market held another enjoyable event at Pierce College with vendors selling antique collectables, jewelry, and memorabilia on Sunday, Sept. 28.
Every last Sunday of the month, rows and rows of booths are set up with countless vintage goods, hand painted artwork, clothing, and even different kinds of furniture.
Co-founder Patrice Curedale, who has helped run it since April 2012, enjoyed celebrating the flea market’s one year anniversary as she watched happy customers walk out with their purchases.
“People come in to shop and they become vendors eventually because they buy so much,” said Curedale. “We have a constant stream of people asking about how to be a part of the market.”
Originally stationed at the Westfield Promenade Mall, the Vintage Market grew larger in size over the last year as more local shoppers attended and more collectors became interested in selling their own antiques.
“We’ve been saying since the beginning that we’d love to have student groups come as well, so we can set up tables if they want to advertise their cause to the community.” said Curedale.
Keegan Alan, a 22-year-old vendor, sold restored collections of luggages, painted wooden signs, and home goods that were spread across the bed of his truck adding an extra touch to the vintage atmosphere.
“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” said Alan. “My mom took me dumpster diving for the first time when I was three because I was small enough for her to lift me over, so I’ve just been collecting and collecting since.”
Marissa Lauren and a 7-year-old girl named Ava alongside him, helped organized the booth two months in a row and greeted the wide variety of customers with warm smiles.
“I’d say majority of my customers are hipsters and young couples who see this kind of stuff online but don’t know where to find it.” Alan added. “The rest of them are store collectors or avid collectors.”
One of the vendors named Don Wippert was a Pierce student himself and he began his love for collecting historical glass bottles when he found some in an old truck.
“I thought they were cool, brought them home, and then started going to swap meets,” Wippert said.
The oldest piece in his collection was a musty green bottle from the 1700s. However, one of the items he has still kept over the years was a milk bottle from the Pierce dairy creamery, when there once was one on campus.
The men and women had great energy in their booths, which came from being in the atmosphere of the flea market itself.
“This is my first experience here and I love it,” Artist Ann Storc said. “I found that the people here have a heart.”
She was an art teacher for 43 years and was known as the “queen of the garage sales.” Storc found enjoyment in discovering the different passions each customer shared with her, as she did the same by selling art supplies and artifacts.
The sound of music filled the air of the Vintage Market, as well as the smell of food coming from four different food trucks provided for customers every year.
Dedicated customers and yearly goers always come as early as opening to get the best unique antiques.
“I love it here and I think that this has a really great price structure compared to the other ones, like in Santa Monica,” customer Grace Culberton said. “There’s a really great variety of vendors with great things and it’s fun to find things.”
The Vintage Market is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. located in Parking Lot 7 right on Mason Ave and Victory Boulevard. There is a $2 admission fee and children under 12 are free.
The flea market will be back Oct. 26 and Nov. 23.
