Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Hazlewood.
Hi Kyle, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We conceived the idea for Magic City Flea after vending at vintage flea markets in New York and visiting antique shops & estate sales across the country. My girlfriend turned business partner, Courtney Bower, first introduced me to thrifting about a year ago. She has thrifted since she was young and has always had an affinity for vintage clothing. When Courtney began selling vintage clothing at pop-up markets in her native New York, I soon became very curious about the culture, community, and business side of the thrifting & vintage world. Courtney showed me the ropes, and eventually, I was vending at markets right alongside her. Thrifting & selling together also became a therapeutic activity that we did as a couple.
Eventually, Courtney moved back to Miami with me (I am a Miami native.) We were overjoyed to find that Miami had tons of local goodwills, but we realized that there was not much else. We could not find the same sense of community in Miami, even though we were certain that a community existed. Miami’s vintage and thrifting community was being underserved. We could not find the same type of markets we sold at in New York either – there was no large, steady, reliable vintage flea market that provided people with the same sense of togetherness that we felt up north.
It was then that we decided that we would create our own vintage flea market in Miami that provided the community what we felt was lacking. Thus, Magic City Flea was born. Together, Courtney and I created the brand identity for our concept (I used to work at a digital marketing, branding, and design startup agency.) We solidified our concept and began trying to make it a reality.
After driving all around Miami searching for a suitable location and countless dead ends, we were fortunate enough to secure a location in Wynwood – the heart of Miami’s art scene & the perfect place for Magic City Flea to take shape. We went all around Wynwood placing stickers in the street and flyers in local businesses. We also coordinated a big social media advertising push to drive vendor signups and turnout.
Our debut market was April 9th & we were thrilled to find that our event was a smash hit! We quickly locked in three more dates (May 14, May 21st, and May 28th) and are currently hard at work preparing to continue bringing our vision to life. We hope to eventually host our market every week so that all may come to know and enjoy our wonderful community.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As with starting any business, there have definitely been hurdles. Finding a lot was pretty difficult at first, but we were able to push through. Since it’s a numbers game, we knew we needed to continue to reach out to as many lot owners as we could and try to work out an arrangement despite the dead ends.
Once we got our location situated, the permitting process was definitely a challenge. We filed the permits for the event with no prior experience on a pretty tight timeline, so for a few weeks every day presented another obstacle that we had to figure out a way past. In the end, doing the permits ourselves definitely paid off, as we know how to do them now and continue to do so with much greater ease. That also means that we do not need to rely on someone else (aka a permit runner) to assist us with this very important aspect of our business.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Magic City Flea is a vintage & craft local goods flea market located in Wynwood. We provide our guests with the finest assortment of vendors who sell vintage & upcycled clothing, local food, craft & handmade goods, collectibles, and much more!
We are the only vintage flea market in Wynwood & the largest local flea that focuses specifically on Vintage/upcycled goods.
As a brand, we are most proud of the success of our vendors and the turnout of our debut market. We were extremely happy to provide people with a successful platform to sell their goods & provide our patrons with an enjoyable experience.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to us is creating a strong sense of community, especially surrounding something that has a positive impact on the environment. People are shifting away from the pull of ‘throwaway’ consumerism, and providing avenues to do so is extremely important if we want to create more sustainable habits.
Equally important to us is uplifting small businesses and providing them with a platform that they can use to sustain themselves and grow. After all, small businesses are the core of our economy.
Pricing:
- Admission to the flea is free!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.magiccityflea.market/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magiccityflea/
Image Credits
Photographer details: Instagram: @mel.mv
