Downtown Cape tailgate flea market newbie? Here are 4 things you need to know

The Cape Girardeau Downtown Tailgate Flea Market comes around only two Sundays a year — in May and October — but organizers said the almost 7-year-old event garners “an insane” number of attendees.

Between two parking lots, more than 150 vendors local to Southeast Missouri — and others from Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois — offer pieces such as repurposed furniture, vintage vinyl records and assorted novelties and hard-to-find items.

We talked with event coordinator Marti Hartle, Downtown Merchants Group secretary Audra Novak and Downtown Merchants Group president Derick Charles to find out what newcomers might need to know about the organization’s 14th flea market.

“There are customers that love it; we have vendors that love it,” Hartle said. “And then you have the businesses that reap the benefits of it. ... Every penny of this goes back to our members, and it also allows us to give back to the community, too.”

The market will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday — rain or shine — at the parking lots at Broadway and Main Street and at Independence and Main streets. Bringing cash is recommended; ATMs are nearby.

Why there?

The reason for the two parking lots, Charles said, is to include the downtown merchants who wouldn’t normally be open Sundays. “A lot of them keep their doors open,” he said.

Hartle said the event was created because she, Charles and Novak were hearing “there was nothing ever going on downtown on a Sunday.”

“We’ve heard many [downtown merchants] say this is the biggest cash register ringing day of the season,” she said. “And that’s why we did a lot on either end, so that [attendees] would have to travel right in front of the store area to get into the other lot. It was very strategic when we did that.”

Vendors

And each flea market features different vendors. “Even if you’re there in May, you’ll get a different experience in October,” Novak said. A lot of people love “the alpaca lady,” Charles said of the fall-only local vendor offering authentic furs.

Hartle said vendors also will be selling DVDs and bicycles. Novak said one of the returning vendors is a gentleman who makes cigar box guitars. Glass Gardens by Stacey will be selling succulents, cactus and handmade arrangements and Silver Lining and Co. will have uniquely transformed sterling and silverware for sale — and Pearson Farms will have pumpkins.

Food vendors will include Smokehouse 61 alongside The German Cook and The Corner Grocery Store.

Beginnings

“I would say it’s been growing every market,” Charles said. “I’ve been helping with it since the beginning, and it’s steadily grown. It started out at maybe a couple thousand [attendees] and now I think it’s at 8,000.”

The first market featured 15 vendors on each lot with “a couple hundred visitors,” Hartle said.

Parking

Charles said the organization recommends street parking for those who wish to attend the flea market, “anywhere you can.” Novak said a free shuttle provided by Isle Casino Cape Girardeau will be available to patrons between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Parking also is available at Isle Casino.

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