A seller's market: Thousands attend Downtown Tailgate Flea Market on busy weekend

A busy weekend in downtown Cape Girardeau continued Sunday with the Downtown Tailgate Flea Market that attracted shoppers to Main Street by the thousands.

The not-for-profit Downtown Merchants Group coordinated the event and transformed two parking lots on Main Street into makeshift marketplaces.

The biannual event began in June 2014, drawing 19 vendors. On Sunday, the event reached its maximum capacity of 150 vendors and turned away 20 more vendors.

In the north flea-market area at the intersection of Broadway and Main Street, Mike Smith of Delta signaled his booth with a gonging cowbell.

The full-time salesman said he makes his living through local flea markets and proclaimed the secret to running a successful stand is to have something that captures a customer’s attention.

Owen, 7, and Avery Madura, 10, look at toy John Deere tractors Sunday during the Downtown Tailgate Flea Market in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

“You have to have something that stands out, like a pot-bellied stove or a cowbell,” Smith said.

The clang of Smith’s bells carried through the market and towards the street, where Downtown Merchants Group president Paula Haas sat at a nearby booth alongside one of her favorite vendors, Glass Gardens by Stacey.

She noted attendance was up because replicas of Christopher Columbus’ Nina and Pinta ships were docked at the nearby riverfront for tours.

“We’re never surprised with 4,000, but with the Pinta and the Nina down here, I’d guesstimate that it is closer to 8,000,” Haas said. “It has been nothing but people — steady and thick all day.”

While many businesses sandwiched between the two Main Street marketplaces opened their doors, a line began to form outside of Board and Brush Creative Studio as it held its grand opening.

Emily LaCroix, left, walks with Bryce Carroll and his brother, Blane, as they view a knife display Sunday during the Downtown Tailgate Flea Market in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

Guests built wooden pumpkins at an activity station in the do-it-yourself crafting space. The business provides customers with a place to relax and create hand-painted home decorations.

At the end of the block, a parking lot at Main and Independence streets filled with vendors to form the event’s second, slightly larger marketplace.

While local organizations and food trucks served food in the distance, Dan Dunker bargained with John Bohnsack at Dunker’s tailgate trading post.

After a round of offers and counteroffers, Dunker agreed to sell Bohnsack five chain binders for $25.

More noise came from Gerald and Judy Scherer’s booth in the south trading ground, where a crowd formed around Rob Hilliard of Chicago as he picked through a major scale on an electric guitar made from a shovel.

For the Scherers, the key to their salesmanship is how they present their pieces.

“It’s definitely how you market it and how you display it,” Judy Scherer said. “You can sell a piece of wood painted in red if you display it good. It doesn’t matter what you sell; it just depends on how you do it.”

Haas said while the Downtown Merchants Group is looking to expand and accommodate more vendors with another parking lot, she remains cautious of over-expanding and causing crowds to dissipate.

Instead, Haas plans to let the event grow at its own pace and expand when the need arises.

The seventh Downtown Tailgate Flea Market will be May 6.

bmatthews@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3652