Tantilizing Treasures or Tacky Trash?

I went to the First Monday Trade Day with my parents in Canton, Texas. It is a huge flea market located an hour east of Dallas. It is a fun place where dealers and customers can come to bargain on all kinds of merchandise from door knobs to exercise machines. It always lasts for a whole weekend. First Monday started in the 1850s when the District Judge used to stop in Canton on the first Monday of each month to hold court sessions. People brought goods, produce, and livestock with them to buy, sell or trade. In 1965, it had overgrown and moved down to bigger land. First Monday usually holds up to 7,000 vendors and about 300,000 visitors. It is a really cool experience. This is best described as a customer experience.

One of the goals in marketing is to stand out to the customers and persuade them to come back to your business. You want to be the first on their mind because it is easy to remember what comes in your mind first. We don't think about or dwell on what comes second to mind--we think about what comes first to mind. This flea market is a good example. There are many competitors and booths from which to choose.

My parents enjoy going to this flea market once every month. I have been to a couple of flea markets growing up, but I have never been to Canton’s flea market. Some people would have to spend two or three days to see every single booth at First Monday. There are numerous booths located next to each other. Each dealer has a booth where they set up tables on which to display their items for sale. One interesting part is how the dealers set up their booths. As a customer, we are more likely to look at things that will satisfy our needs or wants. I usually judge the booth before I walk in to look at their items. Most of the dealers have really old stuff, such as old pictures, rusted metals, old kitchen dishes, toys from different decades and so on. It can be either very useful or just junk. However, the way junk is marketed can make it look like treasures waiting to be discovered. For instance, I saw a large sign that said “Pre-Owned Watches” rather than “Used Watches.” It is not necessarily old items, but it could be new items that were created by the owner. Wood furniture is a good example.

There is one booth that really caught my attention, “Paper Moon Antiques.” There are several reasons why it caught my attention. First of all, the owners, Steve and Gail Pruitt, decorated their booth with a couple of sheer fabrics hanging from inside the tent, a flower print couch for the owners and anybody to sit on with a coffee table in front of it, and friendly music playing. They even have a fan blowing to keep them and the customers cool from the horrible Texas heat. Their business consists of old wooden furniture that was repainted, along with cute coat or key hangers, and decorations that can be put on a table or the wall. Their decoration theme involved light and friendly colors, such as light tones of pink, blue, white, and green. Yes, I am a college student who will graduate soon, and I will have to buy furniture someday after that. This could be a perfect opportunity for me to start acquiring furniture, and the items at this booth looked enticing. As my mother and I walked into this booth, Steve welcomed us. He was very friendly, and he let us know that we can ask him any questions about his items. This is the only booth out of hundreds that actually stayed in my mind.

The point is, Paper Moon Antiques stood out so much from other booths because of good marketing. All of the other booths were so dull with just the items piled on a table. There were no decorations or welcome by the dealers. Sometimes I would feel such an unfriendly or unwelcome vibe that I do not even bother looking at their stuff. Some dealers would not make the effort to talk to the customers or make the sales. There are some booths that are just simply junky—with clearly no effort made to market their “treasures”—instead, just displaying their junk.

If you have a unique customer experience, I would love to hear about it.