Benton Courier - Benton Flea Market turns 20

Kevin Green checks out an unusual vase at Benton Flea Market, a business started 20 years ago by his mother, Vida Green, and her late husband, Walter Green. An anniversary celebration is taking place Saturday at the market, located off the north service road of Interstate 30.

Vida Green and her son, Kevin, own the flea market, which was the first venture of its type to open in Saline County. Also involved in the business is Judy Richardson, Vida Green’s daughter.
Kevin Green said the business started somewhat after the fact.
His father, the late Walter Green, decided to erect the building and add partitions, expecting to lease the areas for office space.
“The building was already up and my dad had a guy stop by one day and say to him, ‘Why don’t you make this into a flea market and rent booth space?’”
And the Benton Flea Market was born.
“Dad didn’t know anything at all about flea markets,” Kevin Green said. “He knew he had a lot of building space and he could collect the rent. He rented half the building at first and then it began to grow.
“Within a year, the entire building was occupied by vendors.”Saturday’s celebration is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will include several special attractions, including an opportunity to win a gas grill, Green said.
Food and beverages will be available to shoppers, and there will be numerous sale items.
A featured guest at the event will be area horticulturist Chris Olsen — known as the “garden guru” — who appears regularly on KTHV, Channel 11. Olsen is scheduled for presentations at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. He will focus on creative ways to incorporate flea market finds into homes and gardens.
A flea market is the ideal place for decorators who shop for the eclectic look, Green said.
Green, who has an interior design business, said the truly unique homes are the ones in which the owners display collectible items.
“People who buy everything new that matches often create rooms that lack personality,” he said. “Homes need pieces of art and special touches in a variety of styles.
“If people would come into a flea market and use their imagination, they can have an awful lot of fun and create beautiful rooms with a great deal of charm.
“This flea market includes diverse items that can be used to decorate a room at much less cost than would be involved if everything were purchased new.
“We have quite a bit of furniture now,” Green added, “and it’s a lot less expensive than it would be in a furniture store.”
Flea-market shopping also goes along with the current emphasis on recycling, he said. “And you never know when you’re going to find that little treasure,” he added.
“Flea markets are designed to be fun,” Green said. “People come in when they’re traveling or on their days off just to look around.”
Operating a booth in a flea market is a popular hobby for many people, he noted.
“They will have a little booth that they don’t want to work in every day, but they can do it on weekends,” he said. “They like to play with it and sort of have fun.
“It’s exciting to find items and then sell them. We can have something here for years and no one has been interested in it, but then someone comes in and it’s exactly what they’ve been looking for.”
Space is available to new vendors at the Benton Flea Market. “We have room for additional booths and we encourage people to try this,” Green said.
“Whatever is big at the moment will be the thing everyone is looking for,” he said. “It’s like Beanie Babies. When they were big, you couldn’t sell them fast enough. Then when their popularity waned, you couldn’t give them away.”
Benton Flea Market is open regularly from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

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