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Colorado Springs Flea Market businesses staying afloat one year into pandemic

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- One year into the pandemic and local businesses are still recovering from last year’s shutdowns. Many of those businesses can be found at the Colorado Springs Flea Market every weekend - or selling online, which is how Kacee Dimas says his store, Toys N Customs, was able to stay afloat.

“We literally had to figure out what to do, because this is our sole income,” Kacee says.

Kacee sells vintage toys and memorabilia, his store filled with nostalgic pieces of the past from floor to ceiling.

“The nostalgia that takes you back, because we don't have time machines, totally takes you back when you have it your hands,” Kacee says of his store’s inventory.

To keep his “mom and pop” shop alive after COVID-19 forced businesses across the state to shut down, Kacee turned to the Internet.

“I opened up an eBay store, I started selling live on Facebook,” Kacee explains.

Kacee started his business from his basement, eventually working his way to a vendor spot in the Colorado Springs Flea Market in 2019. But he, and his fellow vendors, feared their spots at the market would be short-lived.

Jay Joseph, general manager of the Colorado Springs Flea Market, says he and 60 permanent vendors at the market were closed for three months. At the start, his focus was to help his vendors in any way the flea market could.

“We did out best to help the vendors, as small businesses. We didn’t charge them rent,” Jay says.

When the market was allowed to re-open, Jay’s focus shifted to the health of his employees and vendors.

"We take COVID very seriously, CDC guidelines we follow to a T."

Reflecting back on the last year, Jay and Kacee both agree - the only way out of the rut the pandemic has put local businesses in, is for the community to put their dollars back into the local economy. Both encouraging the public to shop in Colorado Springs.

"It will totally help us out and totally keep us growing and make it even better for everybody,” Kacee explains.

For more information on vendors at the Colorado Springs Flea Market, and how you can sell, visit www.csfleamarket.com.

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Natalie Haddad

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