The monthly Rose Bowl Flea Market took place on Sunday, Feb. 9th at the legendary Pasadena, Calif. stadium. With the recent L.A. county fires striking the Pasadena area, the Feb. installment is the first of the year for the market.
R.G. Canning Enterprises’s event hosts thousands of vendors and even more excited customers every second Sunday of the month. People from all walks of life are found at the massive gathering. Some of the event’s customers on the warm Super Bowl Sunday made their first appearance and were surprised at the size and selection on display. “I would say since [the other flea markets] are smaller, maybe they are a little bit more curated. I think they try to diversify it to specific things. But yeah, there’s something for everyone here,” said Mia Rapella.
Locals to the area like Rapella had heard about the market before but never made the journey there. Locals aren’t the only people who know or visit the market. People from all over the country like New York native Alex Perl also visited the Rose Bowl gathering for the first time. “I think this is such a cool vibe. It’s such a bummer that it only happens once a month. It’s so cool to be able to get all of this cool vintage stuff and stuff that you wouldn’t be able to just go out and buy,” said Perl.
The Rose Bowl Flea Market serves its attendees well by providing a massive selection of clothes, food, furniture, and services. Customers usually leave the market with a couple new wardrobe pieces and a memory of a fun event. For small business owners however, it becomes a life-altering business-expansion opportunity. “Being a vendor at the Rose Bowl has been a good experience for me,” said Travis Sounds. “ It’s definitely an early start.
“You’ve gotta be here, at the latest, at 6 a.m. Other than that, it’s solid. I’ve been doing this for about a year and some change. Business has picked up more because this is once a month so it builds anticipation so you get people that come out versus there’s markets that are like every week but this is once a month so people plan for this.”
From established boutiques to vintage resellers, every seller can find their niche and way to have their business flourish. The next event is on Sunday, March 9th. Early Bird tickets to the event allow customers to come into the market earlier at 5:00 a.m. for $21.10. Customers who aren’t early birds can access the general admission tickets for $13.72 and can enter the event at 9:00 a.m. R.G. Canning Enterprises states that the event ends at 4:30 p.m., but vendors and foot traffic starts to slow down around 2:30 p.m.