A popular flea market is returning to Bristol Commerce Park, Lower Bucks Source confirmed Friday morning.
Phila Flea Markets Executive Director Tony Soprano said plans to move into the space United Way just vacated at 196 Commerce Circle are in the works.
Soprano said his team is preparing the site for its inspection by Bristol Borough officials, adding the space is nowhere near the size of the space the Bristol Indoor Flea Market occupied next door, at the former Walmart site now occupied by Total Liquidators.
Soprano said the space he is renting will be nice for some of his Franklin Mills and vintage vendors from downtown.
To have a place to sell their goods in the cold winter months at an indoor location is a good thing, he said.
You might recall Soprano launched the Bristol Indoor Flea Market in late 2019, early 2020.
A picture of crowds flooding the Bristol Indoor Flea Market in the winter of 2020
Credit: Jeff Bohen, Lower Bucks Source
Thousands showed up for the opening weekend of the flea market, filling up the Commerce Circle parking lot for the first time since Walmart ceased operations at the shopping center years before.
The COVID pandemic and fears about person-to-person transmission of the highly contagious disease forced the flea market to go outdoors for several weeks in June of that year before finally closing down operations later that summer.
Credit: Lower Bucks Hospital
Soprano, under the Phila Flea Markets branding, successfully operates nine other flea markets in the Philadelphia region over the years.
Soprano said if vendor openings become available for the new Bristol site he’ll announce it across the market’s socials and webpage.
He said he’s currently curating the vendor list for the site.
We also think that bringing in this amount of additional foot traffic to Bristol Park will also bring in extra business for Total Liquidators, Sloan’s Thrift, Veterans Thrift and Ollies which are all businesses that target the discount shopper, said Soprano.
“I’m quite sure all of our shoppers will visit those businesses as well.”
The Phila Flea Market team preparing for a return to Bristol, Friday morning.
Credit: Jeff Bohen Lower Bucks Source