Junking the trend: Antique markets thrive on city's east side

Some find worth in cutout lamp shades, old cabinets and wedding frogs.

One's junk truly is another's treasure, and "X" marks the spot in McKinney. TreasureSpotters, the city's newest antique market, is now open for business.

Located just east of downtown, off Virginia Street and along the railroad tracks, the monthly market provides another local destination for "junking."

"For all of us, once a month isn't enough," said Rick Stricklin, TreasureSpotters owner and a vendor at the more established Old Red Lumberyard Junk Market, also on McKinney's east side. "We wanted to do it twice a month, we just needed a place."

Dozens of vendors found that place in a long, unassuming aluminum building across from the old flour mill. They set up shop for the first time Nov. 5-6, many inside and others along the building's outer walls.

TreasureSpotters is open the first weekend of every month, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. There's room for more than 20 vendors, selling everything from flower vases to animal bones to dressed-up taxidermies.

Stricklin, a 12-year antiquing veteran, brought his expertise to a second venue. He handles advertising for Old Red Lumberyard with fellow vendor, Brandy Evans-Beadle, who renovated her own TreasureSpotters space Nov. 15.

Complete with new paint and sanded floors, her mini booth boasts crowned deer heads, crawfish-bucket lights and old suitcases -- a few of junkers' favorites, she says. A fake frog with a white veil sits caged in plain view.

The vendors spend their off days dumpster diving, bidding and dominating garage sales. They sell their wares on eBay, Craigslist and Etsy, premier online markets for pushing vintage junk.

Equipped with central heat and electricity, TreasureSpotters offers vendors like Evans-Beadle a place for sale and storage.

"This has become my thing," she said. "I had to support my habit of buying antiques."

Evans-Beadle moved to McKinney about 15 years ago because of the Historic District, when downtown was filled with antique stores instead of salons. "It all changed," she said, excited that an antique revival is happening several yards away.

Since she and Stricklin took over Old Red Lumberyard's advertising in March, the market's Facebook "likes" have gone from 200 to 1,800. Hundreds flood in from Dallas and surrounding cities, many of them repeat customers, Stricklin said.

Unlike the better-known Third Monday Trade Days, off U.S. 380 in McKinney, the east-side markets stick to antiques. Their vendors interact with customers who, instead of driving to Canton every month, choose to stay local.

"They're looking for our stuff, not for a puppy or chicken or tube sock," Evans-Beadle said. "We don't ever want to get as big as those. We want to stay quaint."

Vendors direct customers toward downtown, pointing out the restaurants and shops that could make their visit complete. Now sold at two consistent markets, the "junk" promotes tourism and is indeed becoming the city's treasure.

Some of the shiniest pieces of the bounty are wedding props, doll legs and spontaneous creations. Evans-Beadle sold a pink typewriter within 30 minutes of placing it on the market. Stricklin sold half of a cow skeleton for a dollar a bone.

Whether they're photographers, designers or collectors, customers and vendors are putting junk to better use. It's a trend quickly growing in the middle of a stale economy.

"People joke that the government should start paying us for saving the planet," Evans-Beadle said. "Things aren't going in the trash anymore -- they're being re-created."

TreasureSpotters is accepting temporary and monthly vendors, still far from maxing out its available space. The markets aren't looking for high-end furniture or Rolex watches, though.

They thrive on junk.

"The inventory changes real fast -- it's always different," Stricklin said. "Some things may look low end, but they're really pricy pieces right now. It's what people want."

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