One of my favorite parts of developing the Brimfield Flea Finder app, has been meeting so many talented passionate people who love what they do. This series of Brimfield Dealer Profiles will highlight a small sample of dealers that can be found using the app. I'm thrilled to help shine a little more light on these businesses that they work so hard building and running every day.
the good home
New England sourced vintage and antiques with an emphasis on housewares, tools, small furniture and linens. Quaker Acres, site 82. Use the Brimfield Flea Finder app to find the good home booth at the show or their contact info between shows.
New England sourced vintage and antiques with an emphasis on housewares, tools, small furniture and linens. Quaker Acres, site 82. Use the Brimfield Flea Finder app to find the good home booth at the show or their contact info between shows.
My parents have been drawn to high quality vintage items for as long as I can remember. I grew up knowing that older stuff was better. As kids, we loved going to yard sales on the weekends. Or better yet, a trip to the town dump to see what treasures people had left behind! Our kitchen table was reclaimed lumber on top of cast iron sewing machine legs way before that was trendy.
Then about ten years ago my uncle purchased antiques in Hungary and had them shipped back to the U.S. and began selling them. He set up in Brimfield and my parents would help him set up and my mom would help him during the week. After a few years he had sold most of his original stock and wasn't interested in continuing to buy or sell. My parents were interested in becoming dealers and began sourcing their own goods to add to the remaining inventory. They started to attend auctions and now they had a really good excuse to buy stuff at yard sales.
They have been setting up in the same spot at Quaker Acres for six years now and they have gotten better and better at what they do. They don't have a shop or sell online and Brimfield is the only show they do (for now), so they work all year prepping for it. Their set up is unique due to their specific site and they have it down pat. They bring their vintage camper (the inspiration for us getting our own) for some comforts of home during the day. Because they are local they don't have to do a marathon set up. They use their own tents and set them up the week before and gradually bring a few trailer loads of merchandise at a time. They are usually still showing up with car loads of stuff on Wednesday and Thursday of the show which is why we sometimes joke there is more there at the end of the show than they started with! But that also means they always have fresh merchandise!
They do get a lot of repeat customers despite being generalists. My mom likes to say it's because they have a good mix of things for men and women so couples stick around the booth longer. It's also probably because they are really friendly and love what they do. They both tend to buy what they love. My mom is drawn to pyrex, kitchenware, planters, vintage textiles, and furniture while my dad buys a lot of tools, lamps, trunks and toolboxes. Over the years, as they have gained more experience, they have learned to branch out a bit and and they have become really knowledgeable about a lot of what they sell. They also love learning from their customers. Whenever anyone buys something who is a collector they pick their brain a bit and learn something new.
Up until last year they had to work the shows around my dad's school year. He was an electrical instructor at a local vocational high school. I started spending more time at the show with my mom during the May and September shows when he was at work which is how Ryan and I started to get more involved in the show (and saw how much the app was needed). My dad is now retired from teaching but still does electrical work. But his schedule is flexible and it allows them to focus more time on sourcing merchandise for the shows.
He is drawn to lamps and lighting because of his electrical background. He rewires lamps to sell frequently and has also made some really cool light fixtures out of all sorts of repurposed materials. Here are a few of my favorites:
They are definitely two of our biggest supporters. There are app signs all around their booth and so many people have told us "I found out about the app from your parents!" My dad has been known to set up special seating for customers but once you sit down you have to download the app. He's that good!
If you are at the show, I hope you get the chance to go see the good home on Quaker Acres and please tell them that we sent you!
Thanks for following!
Kaitlin
