143 Flea Markets allow for sustainable shopping
Once a month, the Newbury Park High School [NPHS] parking lot is lined with vendors selling anything from clothes, food, beverages and jewelry. The flea is hosted by a company called 143 Flea that has made it a goal to host a flea at NPHS once a month. Their business offers a more local flea market directed toward people from Calabasas to Thousand Oaks. On Feb. 7, various sellers and shoppers took part in the 143 Flea from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
One of the vendors at the 143 Flea Market, Jasmine Sanchez, has been thrifting since getting her first job in high school. Sanchez collected tons of clothes, inspiring her to start her business, Bootsystrange. “So that’s kind of how it started. I needed to get rid of this stuff. As far as what I collect, it’s mostly 90s, Y2K to 60s and 70s fashion. I feel like I used to be really into all of that, and now I’m liking older stuff. So I [like to] do a combination of both,” Sanchez said.
Rahan Hafezi, owner of Divine Jewels111, sorts through applications to discover vendors like Sanchez and curate the ambience of a flea. After selling vintage watches at flea markets for two years, Hafezi noticed the opportunity for local fleas to expand to Ventura County. Once a month, vendors set up booths to sell homemade or vintage goods, often leading to a sense of community. “Everybody here owns a small business, and at the end of the day, we’re just trying to get exposure, and we’re trying to create a community where people can come and sell what they love,” Hafezi said. “It takes a lot of time for these vendors to come here and actually, you know, bring all this product.”
Along with bringing the community together, 143 Fleas provides people the opportunity to sell their thrift finds and handmade products to people anywhere from Newbury Park to the Calabasas area. “I just like selling locally. You meet people who are actually in your life, community and neighborhoods, and that’s always nice new people,” Sanchez said.
A newcomer to flea markets, Tiana Pardini, senior at Westlake High School, found out about 143 Fleas through Instagram. “[The best parts of fleas is] just the cool clothing options and all the stuff you could look at […] it’s a lot different from a lot of the stores I normally go to, and they have a lot more options,” Pardini said. Along with getting more variety, Pardini also saves money on purchases. “I’ve been wanting a Coach bag for a while, and it was cheaper here than the ones I saw on Depop. So I thought it would be a good purchase,” Pardini said.
With the next 143 Flea Market taking place on March 3, vendors begin to plan their booths and merchandise. “I think this gives a good second life to [sell] things that are just fated to be trash one day,” Sanchez said.
