Nashville's `Underground' Attraction: A Flea Market That Outdraws The Opry

NASHVILLE - This is no ordinary flea market.

Flea markets are everywhere, often a couple of antiques here, a few crafts over there.

Nashville has the Super Bowl of flea markets, with up to 250,000 customers per weekend, an average of 2,300 booths and 42 tour buses bringing customers from out of town.

For almost 25 years, the flea market has been held on the fourth weekend of every month at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds.

The bargain hunters and browsers find their way around 6 1/2 acres, moving along like ants among the nine buildings and six sheds.

With 1.3 million visitors a year, the flea market easily outdraws the Grand Ole Opry country music show.

"A lot of money changes hands out here," says Mary Snyder, manager of the Nashville flea market.

"I buy anything that strikes my fancy," says Cathy Martindale of Nashville, a disc jockey for WSM-FM radio and flea market customer.

In October, the flea market's most popular month, there were 132 campsites reserved at the fairgrounds for customers and vendors.

"They come from all over the country," Snyder said among the ringing telephones in her office one day before the November flea market. "This month we've got people from Vermont, some from Texas and one vendor from California."

It's so crowded that she had to hire a city transit bus in the summertime to shuttle people from off-site to the fairgrounds. A nearby school and residents in the neighborhood rent parking spaces for $3 after free parking on the grounds fills up.

The flea market so saturates the fairgrounds that the weekly pro wrestling matches at the sports arena there are canceled every fourth weekend of the month so the building can be used for booths.

"It is probably one of the best `underground' tourism attractions that we have," says Butch Spyridon, head of the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It goes relatively unheralded, but people come from miles around to visit and shop."

Andrew Schmidt of Clarksville, Tenn., who sells antique clocks and watches at the flea market, has had calls from Canada and Hawaii from people who heard about his business at the Nashville market.

"It's definitely broadened my points of contact," he says.

His average gross from two days of sales at the market each month: $2,000 to $2,500.

"The people come to purchase; it's a buying crowd," he says.

Bargains?

"I've seen watches worth $500 purchased for little or nothing," Schmidt says.

Regular customers say the best time to go is mid- to late Sunday afternoon, when vendors seem more willing to cut prices.

"It's fun to see something tagged for $10 and you get them down to $6," says Elizabeth Denton of Nashville, an advertising saleswoman who goes to the flea market every month. "You have to know how to haggle."

About a third of the merchandise is antiques, another third is crafts and the rest is a hodgepodge. Admission is free.

The fairground gets approximately $1 million a year in revenue from vendor rental fees, which range from $45 to $72.50 per booth per weekend.

Says Denton: "You'll see things for sale that you threw out as junk years ago. You stand there in amazement thinking they actually have a price for this now."