Today we’d like to introduce you to Shelly Famighetti-Dane.
Hi Shelly, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We have been producing Flea Markets since the early 90’s. We are a married couple who both grew up with our parents bringing us to Flea Markets on the East Coast (where we are from) as kids. My husband Phillip actually is the brainchild/creator of what is now call Melrose Trading Post. At the time in the 90’s when we opened it, we called it Fairfax Flea.
We’ve had about ten different Flea Markets over the years. My husband has always been an entrepreneur and I come from fashion design. So we love love love Flea Markets. In fact, it was what we did on our first date.
Los Feliz Flea is the Flea we are most proud of. Although the one we had at Dodger Stadium was much bigger, Los Feliz Flea has blown up FAST in under two years. Plus, we’ve lived in Los Feliz for decades so the commute to work isn’t half bad.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
This is the first event we have ever produced in 30 years trust has been a smooth road. The fact that we launched on September of 2020 during a global pandemic and when things were finally allowed to open/reopen is even more mind-blowing with the breeze of building this Flea Market. We are very experienced at producing shows, and we are very specific with what we produce. We curate this Flea Market heavily and let’s face it Los Angeles knows fashion and decor more than most think.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What sets Los Feliz Flea apart from all other Flea Markets in Los Angeles is first and foremost we are Free Admission & Free Parking. There is no other Flea Market in Los Angeles that has that and there never has been. We refuse to ask people to pay to shop. And in Los Angeles, we all know how rough parking is. We made sure when launching this show that parking was to be included for our sellers & shoppers.
Secondly, we Curate Heavily unlike any other Flea Market in Los Angeles. We don’t let anyone in that applies. We don’t want to just take money from any seller, we want to know they will make money and we want to know they have a setup that looks unique and that they fit the aesthetic that I (Shelly want as the curator/co-owner).
Third, we are The Biggest SATURDAY Flea Market in Los Angeles. We have Over 190 sellers every single week. In May, we are adding another 50 spaces which would mean we’d be 24o different sellers.
We love Rose Bowl but it’s too big, and every time we leave we feel like we most certainly missed out on seeing sellers we would have loved to. So with our amount of sellers, you can spend the whole afternoon and take your time and visit each booth. We want that for both the Customers & Sellers.
And finally, a Portion of Proceeds we make from this Flea Market doesn’t just go to LAUSD like any events held at a LAUSD event, ours goes directly to this school which is our neighborhood school. We also empty John Marshall High School Students. We are all about Community.
Oh, and our Fees for Sellers are Lower than any Flea Market or Vintage/Antique Market in L.A. and we are proud of that.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
It’s funny so many people come to a great Flea Market and then want to launch their own thinking they can make bank. And that’s really fart from the truth. We are three decades in and can certainly say there’s no success in Flea Market Production if it’s for money. Personally, it’s our belief that one must really truly love what they do to succeed. And like I said, we grew up Flea Market hunting when we were toddlers in diapers.
Contact Info:
- Email: Shelly@losfelizflea.com
- Website: Losfelizflea.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/losfelizflea?utm_medium=copy_link
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/losfelizflea/
Image Credits:
Every Weekend its Celebrity Sightings and one of the photos Vanessa Hudgens who’s a regular let me snap the photo of her and her friend. The rest are shots of the Flea Market and its shoppers. Photo of Vanessa Hudgens by me. The rest are from Wolf Kroeger.
