By now, you’ve undoubtedly heard of OKC’s H&8th Night Market, a monthly event featuring conveniently placed trucks dishing up everything from ramen to gyros. If the smell of that doesn’t float your boat for some insane reason, you still have plenty of other options. R&J Lounge and Supper Club will be rockin’ happy hour just before the festivities kick off, plus June’s live music lineup features the likes of Josh Sallee, Millie Mesh, and Rontography. Moreover, the Nature Conservancy is hosting a gardening demonstration amid the debut of the Firefly Experience photo series.
Still not sold? Then try Industry Flea, an open-air pop-up shop extravaganza at the corner of 10th and Hudson. After a couple of successful runs with the Holiday Pop-Up Shops, the Flea expanded this year to its current home in Midtown, where it’s open on the last Friday and Saturday of the month.
The ever-rotating string of 40-plus vendors will hook you up with everything you could ever want and didn’t know you needed; I once eclectically left with a jar of Red Hot Mamma’s Pickles, a Russy Stardust T-shirt from The Okay See, and a Serge Gainsbourg vinyl from Trolley Stop Records.
Oxford Karma spoke with Allison Barta Bailey, the brains behind Industry Flea, about the market’s partnership with H&8th and why any and all Oklahomies should come out this weekend.
Oxford Karma: What spawned Industry Flea?
Allison Barta Bailey: When I travel, I always try to incorporate a visit to the local open-air market or Flea. It dawned on me last spring that OKC needed our version of this type of market. Combined with seeing more small vendors and startups applying for the Holiday Pop-Ups, an event that we also produce every year, we decided to start the Industry Flea in the spring 2015 season.
OK: Why did you decide to join forces with H&8th?
Bailey: I have pretty strong ties to Midtown because it has been the Holiday Pop-Up Shops’ neighborhood for the past two seasons. It has also been home to H&8th, and we’ve been big fans of this monthly event too. This year, we struck a strategic partnership to encourage the Flea to be the retail hub of H&8th on Friday night. Food and shopping go great together! We’re also open on Saturday for a little more casual, daytime shopping.
OK: What I love about the Flea is that it supports local artisans. Was that important to you when this venture came about?
ABB: When you purchase something from a vendor at the Flea, more than likely you’re purchasing that from the individual that helped create it or source it for their shop. A higher percentage of your money stays in the Oklahoma community when it’s spent with local vendors. With many of our start-up vendors at the Flea, your sales are directly helping them grow their business.
OK: And most importantly, why should our fellow Oklahomies visit Industry Flea?
ABB: The Industry Flea is walking distance to all of the Midtown and Auto Alley’s shops and restaurants, plus each month, our vendors change — there are always new vendors mixed in with favorites. It’s a great starting location to spend with friends too. I think of it as a way of voting with your dollars, saying “Yes, creativity and culture matters to me. I want these types of businesses in my community.”
