In the basement of Chelsea Market lies a hidden treasure for bustling shoppers: The Artists & Fleas Market, located on 88 10th Ave @ W. 15th Street New York, New York. Visitors and New York residents alike casually mull around past the various retailers standing amidst the dangling lights and graphic covered walls.
“… you can shop for so many different things in a small space and it’s really easy to find something that you like,” Sophie Attkiss ’19 said. “In a normal mall you’d have to go to multiple different stores while at this market you can just walk around to get what you want.”
The Artists & Fleas Market, founded by married couple Amy Abrams and Ronen Glimer in 2003, classifies itself as an “artist, designer and vintage market.” Various retailers have the opportunity to showcase a wide assortment of handmade products for purchase. Some of these products include clothing, jewelry, soaps and much more.
“We take pride in the fact that New York is still for artists and designers. Having a hand in that is still a very exciting thing for us,” Abrams said in an interview with Brooklyn Magazine.
Creating a popular vintage market was not an easy process for the founders; Glimer explained in an interview with Brooklyn Magazine that when the original Williamsburg location was opened “maker culture was not a thing yet,” therefore making a living on self-made items was not feasible for budding artists.
Flashing forward thirteen years, the market is a booming success, with nearly 300 vendors using the Artists & Fleas Markets as a portal to distribute their merchandise. It currently has two other locations besides the original Williamsburg location and Chelsea Market: the Los Angeles Arts Districts and Los Angeles Venice.The Chelsea Market location was opened in 2014, and appears to be a hit among Staples students.
“It’s much more interesting than a regular store and has a much bigger variety of items to choose from,” Sophie Carozza ’18 said. “I thought it was super cool to see all the different vendors selling different things…I love the concept of a flea market!”
Abrams and Glimer have not only created a community of artists, but a community of eager shoppers looking for a unique customer experience with one-of-a-kind products.
“I bought a pair of earrings and the retailer I bought them from interested me because it had a bunch of simple jewelry pieces” Attkiss said. “I love finding little things like that.”
While there are a wide assortment of available items for sale, according to Carozza the quality remains consistent, calling most items “affordable and gorgeous.”
By: Tori Lubin ’18
Web Features Editor
