They come from all over for this vintage market. The skinny on Tacoma Flea
Sarah Turner had an idea in late-June to do a pop-up in her Tacoma yard for vintage curators such as herself. The pop-up—which was supposed to be a one-time event—had a huge showing, with people asking, “Where can we find you next?”
Turner, who has lived in the city for the last decade and is a Washington local, is the founder of The Tacoma Flea, a curated vintage market in Pierce County that has amassed thousands of followers online.
“So I have been a vintage seller and worked in this space for the last five years or so, off and on. I started in furniture actually, and then ended up taking a break because it just got to be a little bit too much work trying to manage my regular job and doing that on the side,” Turner told The News Tribune.
After Turner came back to the vintage-selling space, she focused more on small houseware and clothes. To kick off her return, she decided to do the pop-up in her backyard on July 29 and invited a few other vintage vendors.
“And people really, really loved it,” she said. “ So I kind of decided at that point to take the momentum from having people excited about it and having our community be interested in it. And it kind of grew from there. It just organically snowballed.”
Turner said after the second market she had in her front yard, she decided to create a vintage flea market.
“Again, it was really just one market at a time. And then once we outgrew my yard after three markets, we collaborated with other local businesses,” she said. “We partnered with small businesses in the area who were willing to kind of host us as we grew and evolved.”
Social media helped get the word out about The Tacoma Flea, with videos on platforms such as TikTok gaining thousands or even hundreds of thousands of views.
“I’ve never been a huge social-media person. That’s not something that I’ve ever been super interested in, but I really did try to utilize it for this market, because half the battle in doing these events is just having people know that you exist, and it’s not the easiest thing,” she said. “I do feel like a part of why I’ve had success on socials is because I am just so genuinely passionate about what I’m doing, and I think that authenticity really attracts people.”
The Tacoma Flea now has a fixed location at the Waterfront Market in Ruston where vendors will be in a 10,000-square-foot space once a month for a weekend. Each day there are 40 vendors who rotate over the course of two days. There are vendors who bring in different kinds of items to repurpose from housewares to clothing and even vintage art.
Turner said she also invites artists and creators who work outside the vintage space. The market tries to bring in bakers who provide homemade fresh baked goods, and they usually have a coffee cart pop-up.
One of the vintage-selling vendors, Kylie Spencer, owner of Brass Cactus Vintage, told The News Tribune that she was shocked to see crowds of people during the Oct. 4 market. There were people who came from all over the state.
“There was a line to get in. I don’t think Tacoma had seen, like, that kind of an outpouring of support like that in a while for, like, a new market, and I think that’s mainly because Sarah has been so transparent and good on social media that she met so many people that way and was able to communicate what the market is about,” Spencer said.
Spencer has been a vintage seller of clothing that goes up to the ‘90s. She sells the clothing she curates through eBay or Etsy.
“It’s hard work. Like a lot of people think that vintage sellers are just, they go to the thrift store, and they find something, and they mark it up, and resellers kind of get a bad reputation for that,” Spencer said. “But a true vintage seller really looks for items. There’s the sustainability side of it where a lot of us are super passionate about the amount of clothes that end up in landfill.”
She said that The Tacoma Flea being a curated vintage market has filled a hole for her and a lot of vintage sellers.
“Online sales, they do OK in waves, around the holiday season and stuff like that, but it’s been really hard to sustain a small business or be successful at it without kind of your local, in-person sales,” Spencer said. “And I think that’s why, I mean speaking personally, that last market really saved my business this year.”
Upcoming events
Turner said the market is partnering with Organically Grown Muscle on South Tacoma Way from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 26 for an event.
“We will have some fun extra things happening. We’ll have a Halloween photo backdrop. We will have trick-or-treating available for the kids who come, and that will be a 20-vendor vintage market,” she said.
The Tacoma Flea will be at the Waterfront Market in Ruston on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Turner added that the parking is free outside the market.
“I’m just really happy to be able to share our love of vintage with the vintage lovers of the Tacoma, Seattle area,” Turner said. “And it’s been really fun, and I want to keep pouring into this event and being able to build it up into something that is long-lasting in our city.”
This story was originally published October 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
