According to Nashville Flea Market vendors, patrons and staff: No

Middle Tennessee soccer fans and those with an interest in the expansion of Major League Soccer to Nashville recently celebrated MLS awarding Nashville its newest franchise team, which should begin play in 2020.

Publishing heir John Ingram, whose family began what is now the La Vergne-based Ingram Content Group, and the Wilf family, who owns the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, unveiled plans to construct a new 27,500-seat soccer stadium at The Fairgrounds Nashville to house the team.

Meanwhile, vendors and shoppers at the Nashville Flea Market—a pop-up, indoor and outdoor extravaganza of antiques, crafts, records, toys, pecans, jellies, clothing, lemonade, rugs, commerce and entrepreneurial spirit held one weekend each month at The Fairground Nashville—celebrate the market’s 50th year at the same property, located off of Nolensville Road just south of Downtown Nashville, a space owned by Metro Nashville and operated by an appointed board of fair commissioners.

For months, rumors have swirled among the flea market supporters that this new high-dollar redevelopment focusing on professional sports may disrupt, displace or diminish the popular monthly market that so many have supported over the decades.

“There’s a lot of people who have been setting up there for 20 to 30 years. It’s their livelihood,” said Stephen Vire, whose Rockvale-based Somewhere Place Else Farm sells pickled eggs, spaghetti sauce, jams, hot sauce and more at a flea market booth each month.

But while Tennessee State Fair officials actively seek alternate locations for the annual state fair, those closest to the flea market and The Fairgrounds insist that the market will continue operating at its current home.

Laura Schloesser, Executive Director of The Fairgrounds Nashville

“The flea market opened 50 years ago this year. It’s a milestone we celebrate and one we are trying to build on so that the market will exist 50 years from now,” Laura Schloesser, Executive Director of The Fairgrounds Nashville, said in February 2018. “The flea market will continue!”

However, The Fairgrounds Nashville property (f.k.a. The Tennessee State Fairgrounds) will certainly change over the coming years.

According to a flyer that flea market officials recently circulated among the vendors, planning has begun for a new 100,000-square-foot exposition building at The Fairgrounds with “better access through loading docks and roll-doors than our current facilities, and more efficient and reliable utilities.”

The same flyer states that the combined space of the existing eight buildings at The Fairgrounds (some of which will most likely be demolished in the coming years) is 121,000 square feet.

“There are many legislative and commission considerations, including leases, demolition and rezoning, that will occur prior to finalizing the stadium plan,” according to the newsletter.

“The improvements being made are an investment into the Market. We want the flea market to thrive—not just survive,” Schloesser says. “We are working on a design for a new Fairgrounds Expo building. Our plan is to construct a new building prior to any existing buildings being removed. This will allow us to transition the market and events into the new space before any stadium construction would commence.”

She says the Metro Council must approve any specific plans prior to any demolition of buildings.

“We are making investments in the property that will help support the market and other Fairgrounds events for decades to come. We cannot support the market or our other events long term without making significant improvements. The buildings and utilities are 50 years old and inefficient,” she continues. “Once this upgrade is completed, it will improve the experience for everyone. An upgrade of this magnitude will require flexibility and patience.”

While shoppers may have to use a different entrance gate, and some vendors may have to relocate their booths from their preferred spot at the market during the construction period, if Fairgrounds officials, flea market vendors, flea market attendees, the surrounding community and the Metro government can work together, the long-running Nashville Flea Market will roll on, and could even gain some momentum over the coming years.

Many point out that, currently, the flea market is a profitable endeavor for The Fairgrounds. The monthly income from flea market vendor fees and parking fees serves as a reliable revenue stream for The Fairgrounds property.

“Some are saying ‘they are going to close the flea market,’ but they can’t, because it pays the bills,” says Dick Dickerson, who sells roasted nuts each month at the market, and also heads the Nashville Flea Market Vendors Association. “I feel pretty good about it [the transitional period of construction]. We’re going to have a flea market for a long time.”

Schloesser concurs.

“The flea market will exist as long as vendors desire to partner with us. We have a symbiotic relationship—many vendors rely on the availability of the market for their livelihoods, it is either all or an important supplement to their incomes,” Schloesser says. “In turn, The Fairgrounds relies on the revenue the market produces to remain viable and an affordable venue option in Nashville. And no less important, the flea market contributes greatly to the culture and vitality of The Fairgrounds—and Nashville as a whole.”

Former Nashville mayor Karl Dean made efforts to push the Nashville Flea Market out of The Fairgrounds and redevelop the property for other uses; Dickerson points out that current Mayor Megan Barry has pledged her support for keeping the flea market at its longtime Fairgrounds home.

“There are still some people who would like to do away with the market, and get rid of all of the land,” Dickerson says. “But they are overwhelmed by the voters, the citizens.”

Some say that if construction reduces the customer traffic, or forces cancellation of even a few months of the market, it could make it difficult for the flea market to rebound.

“There has been a very public collective commitment from the Fair Board, the mayor, and the soccer ownership group for the continuation of the flea market and other Fairgrounds events throughout and after construction,” Schloesser says, addressing that concern.

Others raise questions regarding the uncertainty of future vendor fees.

“A lot of us are small, family businesses,” says Linda Morse with Alchemy of Sol, a Smyrna resident whose business produces soap. “My concern is that they’ll do these improvements, and then price everyone out.”

She said even a slight increase in monthly booth rental fees could exclude many of the smaller businesses from participating in the flea market. A higher booth fee may result in smaller profits for many of the vendors, making setting up at market each month unjustifiable.

Steve White offers piles and piles of socks, as well as various tools, snack cakes and other clothing items, at his Sock Depot tent at the market each month. His family has participated in the market since 1978, and now he takes a very pragmatic approach, one month and a time.

“I’m going to come until I start losing money,” the businessman said.

He participates in other markets in other cities, and over the years has seen the others come and go, and Nashville’s ebb and flow as well.

“It is our responsibility to ensure we utilize the many channels available to us to keep the vendors and their customers abreast of developing plans,” Schloesser says. “We are spending a great deal of time meeting with vendors individually to explain where we are in the process and working through any concerns.”

Dickerson says that he believes that once the dust settles, once the old buildings are torn down, newer, modern ones built, and the soccer team is settled in its home, the Nashville Flea Market will be “better than ever.”

“It’ll take four or five years, but it’ll happen,” he said. “It’s the seventh largest flea market in America and we don’t believe they are going to interfere with it.

“It has a chance to be bigger than the seventh largest . . . there will be a flea market here.”

For more information on The Fairgrounds Nashville, the monthly Nashville Flea Market, and other events on the property, visit thefairgrounds.com.