New Flea Market in Jackson, TN

JACKSON, Tenn. –A local flea market returns to the Hub city. The Hub City Flea Market is back at the fairgrounds.

This is the first time the flea market has been held the first week of September, due to the fair usually taking place during this week.

This year’s market has more variety than the previous years, as they’ve added more vendors and are able to supply attendees with a variety of good finds.

There were purses, customized cups, jewelry and much more. The flea market is every first weekend of the month, so if you missed this month you’ll have October and so on.

‘It’s been a great turn out! I love the city of Jackson, the people that come out and see it. So, we have a lot of new dealers that popped in, we’ve had a new crowd that we haven’t seen before. So it’s been a really interesting weekend for us so far,” said Jerry Windhem, One of the owners, Southern Market Promotions, LLC.

If you’d want to become vendor or receive updates on the market you can visit the ‘Seen on 7’ section of our website.

The flea market will open at the Jackson Fairgrounds from Friday, January 6 through Sunday, January 8.

The Hub City Flea Market features a variety of vendors offering everything from art and collectibles, jewelry and clothing, toys, food and more.

Shoppers can also enjoy cuisine from food trucks on-site or be treated to occasional entertainment and live music.

"Antiques, vintage, local arts and crafts, small household items, the list goes on and on. There are over 300 vendor booths in lovely air conditioning, so skip the hot, outdoor craft fairs and come inside to shop. They have a delicious country store, candy, chocolate milk (made by elves, I believe) and an amazing sales staff that can find practically any item you ask for. I don't understand how they can remember which booth has what item, but they do! It's an old Walmart building, so it is big and always full of interesting finds. Have fun shopping, and then remember, they have a sister store about 1/2 the size down the road. Just ask for directions."

Jackson thrifters, flea-market aficionados and deal hunters—get excited. The Jackson Flea Market is coming back.

Following the retirement of Friendly Frank’s Flea Market owner Peggy Adams in December, it looked like the end of the road for the Jackson community’s favorite monthly event.

The market’s closure, after being active for 27 years, left many Jackson residents wondering what was next for Jackson’s thrifting community.  

Good news came via the February meeting of the Jackson City Council, however: Southern Market Solutions LLC, a flea market veteran, was given unanimous approval by the council to begin operations at the Jackson Fairgrounds the first weekend of March.

“We did something very different this time,” Conger said. “Peggy’s been here for 27 years, and done a fantastic job. She deserves to retire.

"So instead of just going into a rental agreement with a new company, we opened that up for request for proposals to make that equally competitive.”

The request for proposals opened a few months ago, with the overseeing committee choosing Southern Market Solutions, LLC.

For those concerned about the quality of a new flea market, Southern Market Solutions’ owners Jerry and Allison Windham assure they know what they’re doing.

The Windhams come from a family of flea market entrepreneurs—Jerry’s father ran the Ripley Mississippi “1st Monday Trade Days” for 40 years before Jerry took over.

Since his takeover 10 years ago, Jerry has reportedly “doubled attendance and vendors” at the event, and plans to do similar work in Jackson.

“It’s a city market—so what we’d like to do is open up the outside, have bigger stalls that will let people bring in bigger items—some of the rules from Friendly Frank's were pretty restrictive as far as the size of items, so I’m thinking a lot of that can be opened up,” Jerry said, speaking on his plans for improvements.

Overall, however, the Windhams assure they’re going to keep the beloved vibe of Friendly Frank’s—they’re just amping it up a bit.

“We’ve got a lot of interest stirring right now…with your population and trading area, there’s no reason this market can’t overtake Ripley’s market,” he said.

Jackson residents can enjoy the new flea market at the Jackson Fairgrounds the first weekend of March.

Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at [email protected], by phone at 731-343-5212, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham. 

The owners say the venue is nearing full capacity for vendors and they expect big crowds for the sales.

"This is going to be a new market. We’ve made a few changes inside. We’ve made a few changes outside. We really want people to come gives us a try. We want to make this fun. Fun for the entire family. We want lots of food. We want lots of stuff you won’t see anywhere else in Jackson. We really want everyone to come out and enjoy the day,” said Jerry Windham, one of the managing members of Jackson's Hub City Flea Market.

The management says they plan to expand the capacity for vendors to all the grassy areas at the fairgrounds and want as many visitors as possible to come to the market.

The Jackson's Hub City Flea Market will be open Friday from 5 to 8 p.m., Saturday from 9 to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 9 to 4 p.m. at the Jackson Fairgrounds.