Swap meet makes appearance at Cache Fairgrounds
Retail in Cache Valley just upped its hipness factor. The recent debut of a swap meet at the County Fairgrounds on Saturdays and Sundays gives shoppers an opportunity to get a little bang for their buck. It also gives citizens a venue for swapping their wares for cash.
Logan natives Jason Reese and Jose Nunez started out schlepping goods to a swap meet in Salt Lake City a few months ago. It soon became apparent that the journey was eating up time and money.
Reese said, “We kept hauling stuff back and forth. The gas was like $100 and it was just a pain. So we thought maybe Logan has something to offer.”
Logan, at the time, did not have a swap meet, but fairground officials told Reese and Nunez they would love to see one started.
Nunez said, “We did some planning. We looked at when and where, and figured how many vendors we would need to cover rent and insurance. Then we talked to the county about having it at the fairgrounds, and they said they’ve wanted someone to do this for a long, long time.”
Reese and Nunez recognize that the swap meet competes in the summer with other activities, such as golf, fishing and traveling, but they have faith that the meet is a need and a want of the community.
Nunez said, “We put some flyers around town and got some spots on the local radio. Pretty soon, people are calling all of the time, wanting information.”
The Cache Valley Swap Meet opened Easter weekend.
Nunez said, “Over 500 people showed up, and it was cold and a holiday. And we had a lot of vendors. I think in this economy people have things at home that they would like to part with for money.”
Blanca, one of the vendors, was hawking sports memorabilia.
She said, “We are glad to finally have somewhere local to sell.”
She once lived in California and had a retail shop, but the devastating turn of the economy forced her to move to Utah, where the economy is a bit more stable.
The swap meet has a little bit of everything. Vendors offered boots, jewelry, toiletries and handmade items. Reese said a man brought a truckload of snowmobiles, four-wheelers and bikes last weekend.
Nunez said popular items are stickers, in all shapes and sizes.
Reese sells recycled computers. His edge is that he installs Ubuntu, an open-source software, on them. He said, “It runs just like windows and includes any software you can imagine and all of the software is free and legal.”
Ubuntu also runs a lot better than traditional operating systems.
He said, “I’ve got a five-year-old computer running this, and it is just as fast as my one-year-old laptop. Also, I’m a DJ and some of the software for that is like $800. I found a comparable program for free. There is Photoshop-like software and one similar to Adobe Suite, which is like $1,800.”
Out of creating this commercial setting for the community, Reese and Nunez also hope to get people and cultures intermingling.
Reese said, “We want to bring together all kinds of people. There is a great interest for open air markets in the Latino community because it is familiar to them. The swap meet is an occasion for a blend of cultures. Anyone doubting that can look to the Salt Lake swap meets and see the turnouts and see the different groups that attend.”
Nunez said, “The Salt Lake swap meets were tiny like us only five or six years ago. Now you see all kinds of people, and at the indoor market in West Valley, they typically have a lot of traffic, over 3,000 attending.”
They believe they can build Cache Valley’s swap meet to draw much more. They have ideas for growth and want to make it fun. In addition to the music they play, next weekend a balloon-tying clown will be entertaining. Future plans will include live bands and dancing groups.
Anyone can sell at the swap meet. No business license or insurance is required.
Nunez said, “Just bring a table and your stuff, and the people will come to you. People like to have their garage sales at swap meets because of the built-in customers.”
For more information about the swap meet, call Jason Reese at 764-6106.
– tam.r@aggiemail.usu.edu