BANGOR, Maine — Hundreds of people attended the first Not Your Grandma’s Flea Market in Bangor to support local businesses on Saturday.
Under the Union Street Bridge, more than 70 vendors from across Maine set up booths at a different kind of market.
"It's cooler, we've got some edgy stuff," Jess Stuart, the organizer of the market said. "But grandma's welcome, always."
Stuart is the owner of Glowgetters, a spray tan salon in Bangor. She was looking for a market to sell her business’s skincare line and took matters into her own hands.
"We didn’t really have one in Bangor, so I made one," Stuart said.
Shoppers strolled around booths featuring clothes, jewelry, art, and more, with many opportunities to shop more sustainably.
"I love to just breathe new life into products, so they get more wear, more life, more love," Raegan Goulet-Babin, a vendor at the market, said.
Goulet-Babin sells handmade fashion through her business Sew Goony, upcycling textiles, quilts, and old t-shirts.
Goulet-Babin said the market was a good opportunity for networking and getting feedback from customers.
"The market has been amazing, so many amazing people, so many great experiences, so many new people I've met," she said.
Shopper Cameron Grover came to the market with their mom, eager to make some connections.
"My family has always been really big on finding local artisans to support and spending time in the downtown area and focusing on community," Grover said.
Grover bought a necklace from Jazmin Horne, founder of Dream in Gold Jewelry. She makes one-of-a-kind jewelry from re-purposed materials. Horne was happy with the turnout.
"I love meeting people in person, I like to talk. It's cool because I can really customize pieces for people," she said.
Sellers and buyers alike at the market stressed that it's important to shop locally and keep money in the community.
"We don't need to reach out to big money, to big business, to support the kind of idea of how we want to look, how we want to celebrate things, use things in our homes. We can find that here and support people that we know that then become our friends like Jazmin," Grover said.
As for the future of the market, there are no definitive plans, but Stuart hopes to keep the momentum going.
"Whenever something is good, we'll do it again. We'll just keep doing it," she said.