The People You Meet at Milwaukee’s 414 Flea

A line begins to form outside the green doors of the Ivy House 15 minutes before the 414 Flea opens. It’s chilly by the lake but the people were definitely able to feel spring approaching. The crowd exchanges conversations about what they might find at the event. Inside are 30 vendors who have come from around the Midwest to sell their stuff, be it jewelry, handmade clothes, accessories or curated vintage finds at the flea.

The excitement of the in-person event could be felt by both the vendors and the shoppers. As soon as the doors opened at 12 p.m. the crowd made their way in, filling a venue lined with beautiful live greenery to capacity. 

This isn’t just any flea market, in fact, the entire event was created by Wisconsin native MaKenzie Huchthausen in the summer of 2021. The 20-year-old has now hosted two 414 Fleas and has the third one planned for May 22. She said her goal is to provide a creative and inspiring space to small vintage and goods sellers in the region.

Huchthausen was actually vending her own small business, Apt206 thrifts, at the flea market. She started selling her thrifted items when she was 16. Her table was located at the entrance to kick start a lively walk-through of a unique group of vendors. 

The vendors were set up in a circle inside the venue, which made it easy to walk around and get a close look at everything. A bar offered $5 mimosas to keep the mood light along with trendy upbeat tunes playing lightly in the background.  Some booths had decorative homemade candles and others boasted some exclusive vintage thrift finds. All of them were extremely friendly and eager to talk about the impact 414 Flea has had on their businesses and they seemed to enjoy the break from online platforms.

Meet Catnap Vintage

Nolan and Maria Zavadi Photo: Olivia Weiss

Nolan and Maria Zavadi came all the way from Minnesota to participate in the flea market. They started Catnap Vintage in May of 2021, but have been thrifting for around seven years. The Zavadi’s have an online store where they post some of their inventory, but really find a passion in attending these events.

“We’ve probably done more than 20 events,” said Nolan. “This is a huge part of our sales and our main source of income with selling vintage items.”

Because of that, they shared that COVID created some problems in their business. People can shop online, which is convenient and easy, but they miss out on the community aspect the events provide. Now that in-person flea markets are thriving again, people can talk to the seller directly and get a much more personal experience.

“The lack of events, in the beginning, was hard but now it’s very steady,” said Maria. “Now, we’re going to have some kind of show every weekend.”

The 414 Flea is one of their favorite events to vend at and they talked about the importance of those in-person interactions. They also were able to vend at the Twin Cities Vintage fest, which is the biggest event that Minnesota has hosted of the sort. 

“We love the venue and mix of vendors at the 414 Flea,” they agreed. “Not everyone’s selling clothing, there’s a little bit of everything. Everybody can come here and find something, nobody is excluded.”

Meet Thrift Kist

Thrift Kist: Destiny Sawyer and Aidan Sidon Photo: Olivia Weiss

As shoppers make their way around they might come across a table hosted by a seemingly younger crowd. This is Thrift Kist, a vintage business started by high-schoolers Destiny Sawyer, 18, and Aidon Sidon, 18. Despite their age, they talk about what it’s like to manage a business and about the impact it’s had on them.

“It was hard juggling schoolwork and handling a business at first but after we got the hang of it, it was pretty easy,” Sidon said. “I think it keeps us on track and gives us a steady schedule. This is pretty much our only job.”

After Sawyer started an Instagram to sell clothes with her friends, Sidon joined in and they took a more serious approach. Now, they host live bidding auctions on their Thrift Kist Instagram page alongside attending the 414 Flea. 

“I’ve always thrifted because I was raised by a single mom and we were always at stores where everything is a bit cheaper,” said Sawyer. “I’ve always done it and I’ve always been into fashion.”

Part of the struggle with solely selling online is that accounts can take a long time to grow, Sidon explained. Even with their online consumer base, they prefer being able to come to an event like this. 

“Events are way better than online,” said Sidon. “You get to see and meet people and really get a taste of everyone’s personalities.”

Thrift Kist will be at the next 414 Flea on May 22 to continue expanding their business and look forward to meeting more people. 

Meet Jans Journeys Vintage

Kevin Jensen Photo: Olivia Weiss

If you’re looking for rare vintage graphic tees, Jans Journeys is the table to stop at. His racks were packed tight with shirts from the 1990s and unique ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin merchandise. Kevin Jensen, 39, started Jans Journeys in a tribute to his late mother’s antique business a little over two years ago. 

“I wanted to honor my mom’s legacy,” said Jensen. “The name of her business was Jan’s Journey’s vintage so I just flipped the name. She was an antique dealer so I grew up around old stuff and learned to appreciate it.”

When he first started out thrifting, it didn’t take very long for him to find profit in it. 

“I took $25 and went to a value village and bought five things,” Jensen explained. “I sold those things and turned them into $175 dollars.”

COVID shutdowns made 2020 a huge year for online resellers like Jensen. Depop, a trendy app to buy secondhand clothes, saw a 50% increase in users from 2019 to 2020, according to Businessofapps, which closely monitors app data. Not only that, they saw more than a 50% increase in revenues going from $30 million to $70 million by 2020.  Jans Journeys made the majority of its profits from the Depop app during that time.

“COVID was the best thing to ever happen to my business on multiple levels,” Jensen said. “The vintage online market went crazy and my best month ever on Depop (a social-selling app) was early April and May during the pandemic.”

Despite his online successes, Jensen still loves to come out and interact at the in-person events, and will definitely be attending more now that they are happening more often.

“It’s a great networking opportunity and it’s really fun to interact with people too,” he said. “Most of us are online and I always like seeing what items are catching people’s eyes. It’s great for learning how to price things.”

Meet DeadWrx Vintage

Niki Muench photo courtesy of MaKenzie Huchthausen 

DeadWrx Vintage is an upcycling business based in Madison, that uses old, damaged, and unwanted vintage garments to create unique and versatile clothing pieces. Niki Muench, 24, started the business during grad school utilizing skills she acquired from the long line of seamstresses in her family. She puts a lot of energy into building a more sustainable future in fashion.

“I realized fast fashion is horrible,” said Muench. “There’s a lot of evil stuff going on behind the scenes like slavery, child labor, and environmental impacts with waste.”

Even with the increase in thrifting and second-hand shopping, fast-fashion online stores like Shein and Zaful are still packing a heavy punch on the environment. Even top brands such as Urban Outfitters received a ‘not good enough rating’ from goodonyou.eco. Goodonyou analyzes brands on the basis of environmentally sustainable production. They pointed out that Urban Outfitters fails to minimize textile waste during production which would lessen the load on the earth. 

“We live in a culture of consumption,” said Muench. “That can be less of an issue if you’re sourcing from a sustainable place.”

Muench shares how a lot of her pieces are sourced ethically. Some of her materials come from old towels and bedsheets that someone once used and some stuff is made from old vintage that just wasn’t fulfilling its purpose. 

“I have a bunch of vintage people on hand,” she shared. “If they have stuff that’s ripped or broken, I can make something out of it instead of just getting rid of it.”

Small steps like repurposing clothing the way DeadWrx vintage does turn into huge strides and as people learn more about the damaging effects of fast fashion, they become more interested in supporting upcycling. According to calpirg.ord, 85% of our clothes wind up in landfills. Most of our clothes aren’t even recyclable, to begin with. 

“Most of the stuff that is in a thrift store ends up in a landfill,” Muench said. “I can take stuff you couldn’t do anything with and turn it into something you can use.”

River Clark, Art vendor Photo: Olivia Weiss

What’s next?

The next 414 Flea event is booked for May 22, this time featuring 70+ vendors. The vendors will be spread across both The Ivy House and the Wantable Cafe which is located across the street. With warm weather in the forecast, a portion of the vendors will be set up outside. Early bird tickets that allow for the freshest finds can be purchased in advance. 

Drew Vinz, Jewelry Vendor Photo: Olivia Weiss