Azalea Flea Market is closing, displacing vendors and deal-seekers

For the past 20 years, Marshall has set up shop at the northern Henrico County lot to sell whatever he thinks will make a buck. On Saturday, he offered cookware, bags of Legos, a foot massager and a violin with broken strings. It’s not as profitable as it once was, he said.

The market is closing permanently on Sunday after decades in business at Azalea Avenue and Richmond-Henrico Turnpike. It will displace hundreds of vendors who depend on the money they earn there and buyers in search of rock-bottom prices.

“We’re the little guys,” said Marshall, 66. “They don’t care. They’re about to squeeze us out.”

News of the market’s closing came shortly after the property was sold last month. A limited liability company tied to an Atlanta-based data center operator called DC Blox purchased the 30-acre property for $8 million, according to county records, even though the county assessed the land for less than $1 million. Asked about its plan for 5350 Richmond-Henrico Turnpike, DC Blox declined to comment.

DC Blox is the same company that last year proposed building a one-story, 70,000-square-foot data center on the flea market property and the two adjacent parcels. But residents who live across Wilkinson Road said it was too much industry for their neighborhood, and Henrico’s Planning Commission recommended denying the project. DC Blox later withdrew its proposal.

The site is a tricky location. Directly west of the property, on Azalea Avenue, are homes and Henrico High School. To the east is Richmond Raceway and an industrial corridor that includes a sprawling Amazon fulfillment center called RIC 4.

The flea market property is already zoned for business and manufacturing, which would allow DC Blox to build a data center there. The company, which did not buy the two adjacent parcels, has discussed its options with the county but has not made a formal proposal, said Joe Emerson, Henrico’s director of planning.

After the Azalea Flea Market closes on Sunday, Marshall plans to move his operation to the market outside Bubba’s Bar & Grill on Williamsburg Road in eastern Henrico. There are smaller markets where vendors and customers can go — the Royal Mart near Bubba’s, the Warsaw Flea Market and Chula Junction Flea Market in Amelia County. But none is as big as Azalea. Chesterfield County’s large marketplace, Bellwood Flea Market, closed late last year.

Marshall is fortunate, he said. He can make ends meet without selling at markets. Retired from the U.S. Army, he drives an 18-wheeler part time.

And he doesn’t make as much as he used to, anyway. When he started selling about 20 years ago, there were only eight vendors at Azalea. He could earn $1,000 a day every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Now, there are 200 vendors or more, and many of them sell the same products, with everyone trying to undercut one another.

“If you get a pile of dirt out there and sell it, and you’re the only one selling dirt today, next week there’s going to be 100 people selling dirt,” Marshall said.

‘You can’t do this to make a living’

Knowing that sellers compete against one another, buyers make bargain-basement offers on every product. Vendors, meanwhile, have to buy their goods, store them and haul them to the market in a trailer. They pay $20 a day to rent a spot at Azalea, but if the weather is bad, customers won’t show.

Marshall estimated most vendors earn only $300 a day. “You can’t do this to make a living,” he said.

The savviest vendors know what products will turn a profit and what’s junk. Tools sell; furniture takes up too much space. Most vendors buy goods by bidding on abandoned storage units. Sometimes, the items inside have never been used — kitchenware, shoes, firearms, jewelry.

“Anything you can possibly imagine,” said Tracy Newman, who helps Marshall sell his goods.

Storage hunters can place their bids online after seeing photos of what’s inside the cube. One vendor who declined to give his name said he bid $10 for a unit that contained two hospital beds. Then, he sold one of the beds for $4,000.

Over the years, police have raided local flea markets and arrested vendors on charges of selling counterfeit merchandise. On Saturday, a man went stall to stall looking for a seller he said gave him a defective vacuum. If a customer comes back saying a product is broken, Marshall issues a refund. He wants customers to know he stands by what he sells.

‘The best flea market of all’

Jake Clifton has been selling goods at Azalea for about three years, making him one of the more recent arrivals. Bartering merchandise is a part-time job for him — during the week he works in landscaping. On Saturday, he offered for sale a trivia game for one television hit “The Sopranos” and DVDs of another, “Breaking Bad.” After Azalea closes, he expects to move his operation to one of the flea markets on Williamsburg Road.

For Margaret Waller, the market’s closing is an opportunity to retire. She can sell her products out of her house if she needs to.

“I’m quitting anyway,” she said. “I’m 82.”

Waller retired after a career at chemicals company DuPont and has been selling miscellaneous items at Azalea for more than 25 years. Some of the other longtime vendors have died, she said. She thought about quitting last year, but had too much merchandise to dispose of.

On Saturday, she offered curtains, towels and adult diapers for sale. While she’s tired of lifting her products back and forth, she knows the end of the Azalea Flea Market is the end of something good.

“This is the best flea market of all,” she said. “This is the best moneymaker.”