Apples for Health- Recession good for swap meets

Recession good for swap meets

LOS ANGELES, May 30 (UPI) -- Vendors at U.S. swap meets and flea markets say the recession is driving more people their way.

"When the dollar stores and Wal-Mart are doing good, so is the flea market, usually," said Mark Blakewood, executive director of the National Flea Market Association. "It's the consumers trying to tighten their belt."

Flea markets nationwide have seen a 10- to 15-percent increase in attendance over last year, Blakewood said told the Los Angeles Times in a story published Saturday.

The swap meet in Long Beach, Calif., has seen a 35 percent increase in attendance and vendors wanting to rent booths often are turned down, said Donald Moger, the meet's manager. "We're sold out every show now," Moger said.

With a bit of restraint, swap meets also can be a frugal form of entertainment, said Dennis Dodson, who runs meets at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and in San Bernardino and Ventura in Southern California.

"You can blow through a movie in two hours," Dodson said, "but you can go to a flea market and spend the whole day and browse and browse."