Why Los Feliz Lost Its Finest Flea Market
- Julius Miller
- Feb 8, 2024
- 3 min read
Los Feliz Flea only sprouted up in 2019, but the local market quickly became a staple of L.A. secondhand shopping culture. Spearheaded by Phillip and Shelly Dane, it cultivated a loyal following, exuberant vendors and an event to pencil in every Saturday for Angelenos.
However, the flea recently vanished from its location at John Marshall High School and pitched its tents at a new multi-level parking garage downtown, raising questions about why a move across town took place.
Phillip says it comes back to bureaucracy, citing a recent change in the high school’s regime.
“The truth is that there is gonna be LAUSD's side and then there's my side,” he tells Los Angeles. “I think what happened was they got a new vice principal and she just had it out for us from day one.”
The new vice principal in question is Laura Martinez, who joined Marshall’s ranks about “a year ago,” according to Phillip. Though he had always had a good relationship with Dr. Garcia, the school’s principal, he says Martinez made “a lot of accusations against us that were false.”
“I think Garcia listened to that,” Phillip says. “He claims that’s not the reason, but it doesn’t make any sense why else.”
Phillip says that when they were first starting the market, he insisted that it had to be weekly and couldn’t be cut down to a monthly. Garcia assured him that it wasn’t a problem but “unfortunately, that’s not what happened.”
The flea went as far as gathering signatures from 2,500 residents of the surrounding neighborhood for a petition to keep the market open weekly. They even noted that they employ over 15 Marshall students, and pointed to the livelihood of the vendors.
“One of the arguments that somebody had there was that there was no parking for residents,” Phillip says. “But he [Garcia] himself admitted in a phone conversation with the district that he comes in on Saturdays and he's never had a problem parking on the street. There's always a parking spot.”
Los Angeles spoke with Marshall Vice Principal Martinez who disputes Dane's claims, stating that the decision to cancel the flea market on campus was consensual among the administration, and "100% about the students."
"The flea market prevented student activities, especially sports," Martinez adds. "Athletes would need the field or teachers would want to come and work on Saturdays but there was nowhere for them to park; we'd have dances here and needed it open... so we tried to work with them on the schedule, but it didn't work out."
Martinez also alleges that the students' quad area (where the market took place) was getting destroyed by vendors and guests, with marijuana remnants and even urine, and that coupled with parking problems, school administrators including Principal Garcia, decided to end the arrangement, adding that they are "very happy" with their decision.
Though Dane tells Los Angeles "we loved the school, we loved being there, we loved everything about it,” and was sad to say goodbye, he also was happy with the end result. The disagreement forced the flea market to move into a multi-level parking garage tucked snugly between downtown and Echo Park in January 2024 with panoramic views of the city.
Phillip jokes, “What's the expression? One door closes, another opens? This one has roll-up doors. It’s beautiful.”
The new market, called Vintage Land, has allowed for them to be open on both Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. while reserving the lower level for vendors with furniture and larger items that couldn’t fit at their previous location. And better yet, they've retained every vendor.
“We didn’t lose anybody,” Phillip says. “A lot of them were really nervous in the beginning, but as soon as they walked onto the property and saw how special it is, they’re like ‘this is crazy’ — they love it.”
“I’ve been doing this for 33 years. I did that show at Dodger Stadium where we had 500 vendors and 20,000 people showed up. And this one, this is my favorite.”
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