ATTENDING THE 2022 NFMA CONFERENCE

In early May, Kobey’s Swap Meet attended the

National Flea Market Association (NFMA) Conference in Las Vegas, NV. We were among 40 other markets from across the United States in attendance this year.

The last 2.5 years the NFMA was led by Tim Anderson, the President of Trader’s Village. Trader’s Village owns three Texas-sized Markets in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

Tim regaled his time serving as President during the pandemic and welcomed incoming President, Rick Landis of Newport Diversified Operations, Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet, and Broadcacres in Las Vegas.

The conference provided a unique way to network with other Swap Meet owners, share ideas and listen to presentations regarding specific aspects of the business. Some topics of conversation included marketing, customer service, budgeting, and modern technology.

Kobey’s own Anthony Pretto even presented “A Week in The Life Of An Operations Executive,” describing our regular vending operations, as well as special event operations here at Kobey’s.

We were among many different types of Swap Meet operations sitting in the conference room. One unique thing about Kobey’s is that we are a “portable swap meet,” meaning our market sets up and breaks down

every weekend. Whereas other markets were open 7 days a week, some had rollercoasters, some had drive-in movies, sunflower and pumpkin fields, and others were just getting started in their weekly operations.

It seemed that even though each market was different, there were so many similarities when it came down to the reason why people returned each weekend.

Swap Meets are destinations for the whole family to indulge in a variety of activities, a center to build community, a safe space to have fun, and a place to hunt for bargains. Not only that, but they are a place for families, built by families—- something that was very apparent after meeting so many Swap Meet owners and operators running their own family businesses.

Currently the NFMA has 90 member Flea Markets across the United States. Anthony Pretto serves as a board member and Charles Pretto is a former President of the Association. Additionally, Kobey’s is an active member of the California Swap Meet Association.

Overall, the 2022 NFMA conference was a huge success. We shared what we do best at Kobey’s and we learned from the insight shared by other markets. We are always striving to give Kobey’s shoppers a better experience and we hope we can bring some of what

we learned back into our weekends at Kobey’s.