By Marene Gustin
Updated: 06.08.09
By midday Saturday, there’s little parking left on the lower Westheimer curve. Cars line the street, and pedestrians stroll the sidewalk along a strip of antique and secondhand stores.
Furniture spills out on the walk from the rolled-up doors of the barn-like Westheimer Antique Flea Market, where a young woman squeals over a $50 wooden coffee table.

“We can afford to do the whole living room here!” she tells the young man with her. Don’t let the name fool you. Inside are more than antiques. There’s newer furniture, movie posters, dishes, records, books and more. The market and Lou B’s Antiques next door are open seven days a week; and while weekdays see less traffic, there are still sales.
“Recession, what recession?” asked saleswomen Jackie Gambrell. “When the economy goes down, flea markets and pawn shops take off. People know we will wheel and deal and rock ’n’ roll. We negotiate. Everyday’s a tent sale here.”

There are dozens of area flea markets and swap meetings around Houston, from small selling sites in Pasadena and Seabrook to the Hispanic-themed Sunny Flea Market on Airline Drive where 50,000 folks shop and eat every weekend. And then there’s Traders Village www.tradersvillage.com), a true Texas-sized flea market. “We just enlarged back in January,” said Mike Baxter, marketing director of the 20-year-old, 100-acre market. “And we’re looking at another multimillion-dollar expansion because we’re out of space already. This economy is good for flea markets. People are not only looking for bargains, but people are wanting to sell their stuff.” Some 1,500 vendors lease space on the weekends, shucking everything from new electronics to homemade goods. You can find trash to treasure at Traders Village, and pretty much everything in between. There’s always plenty of food, an RV park and entertainment. Not just bands and dancing, but car shows and special events that draw up to 56,000 folks. This fall, the market will host the Wood Carvers Expo and its first Catfish Festival.

Kewal Singh, founder of Guru Jeweler, said the growth of the market is the biggest change he has seen. “Traders Village is so much bigger than in the early days, and today we probably see more people in a weekend than we used to see in a month.” In fact, last year was Traders Village’s biggest ever, with 1.6 million visitors. Baxter thinks 2009 may be even better. Things are going so well for the company, which also has a giant flea market in Grand Prairie, that a third location will open next year on 290 acres in San Antonio.

“Flea markets are free enterprise at its best,” Baxter said. “With the economy, people are going to be gun shy for years to come, they’ll be shopping flea markets for years.”