Outdoor flea market coming to Burbank

Burbank is getting an outdoor flea market.

The “Burbank Junk Trunk Flea Market” is scheduled to premiere from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 8 in the John Muir Middle School parking lot, 1111 N. Kenneth Road.

Wares for sale will include antiques, collectibles, toys, clothing, jewelry, food and “one-of-a-kind” items, according to event organizers David and Meggan Alexander.

If successful, the market would continue on the second Saturday of every month through September, Meggan Alexander said.

The Mason City, Iowa native said she got the idea to open a flea market when she was studying theater in Burbank.

“Burbank was my stomping grounds,” she said. “My mom and dad are huge flea marketers. What better place to have a flea market than Burbank during the summer months?”

She said the outdoor market wants to attract about 125 vendors who will pay a flat fee of $50 for a 10-foot-by-10-foot space or $80 for a 10-foot-by-20-foot space.

Kathy Yaeger, a senior administrative secretary for the Burbank Unified School District, said the Alexanders will be charged $30 an hour to rent the Muir parking lot, $12 an hour per restroom and $35 an hour to pay for a custodian. Yaeger said the Alexanders have reserved the venue on March 8 and April 12 and will be charged $1,933 if they use the facility for the requested hours on both days.

“If it goes over, I tack it on and charge more. The district gets something out of it and the custodian gets some overtime,” Yaeger said in an interview last month. “We’ll see how this goes. This is the first time we’ve done something like this. Time will tell.”

Alexander said the John Muir site is a perfect venue.

“The great thing about John Muir is our ability to expand. We can open it up to more vendors,” Alexander said. “We’ll have antiques, collectibles and one-of-a-kind items. We have vendors who make their own jewelry and some that sell their own designer clothing.”

In addition, Alexander said the market will feature a live Motown band and numerous food vendors.

She said rather than detract from established brick-and-mortar businesses in Burbank, the flea market will stimulate the entire local economy.

“It’s on a Saturday. Everyone walks around that town. A flea market will offer the best of both worlds and attract shoppers to other businesses. It’s a way to get the community out. There’s a possibility of going long term throughout the year. It depends on how things go,” she said.

Gary Olson, president and CEO of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, said he looked forward to seeing if the idea would take off.

“This is the first we’ve heard of the event taking place in Burbank. It sounds like an interesting idea. And we look forward to seeing how successful it proves to be,” Olson said.

Alexander said the flea market has already created a buzz in Burbank.

“We get calls constantly,” Alexander said. “Burbank doesn’t have anything like this. The community is talking about it and is really excited about it. The Burbank (Unified) School District was enthusiastic and welcomed the idea of having a flea market at one of the city’s schools,” Alexander said.

Potential vendors can email burbankjunktrunk@yahoo.com for more information or call (641) 583-3586.

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