Swap meet owners eager to grow

MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake Swap Meet & Mini Mall has been open for less than a year, but its owners are eager to expand.

Catherine Chapman, part-owner, said the 6,600-square-foot building is quickly becoming too crowded for the swap meet's 16 regular vendors and their wares.

"We're growing very quickly and we're at that point where we need to expand," she said.

The indoor swap meet is currently open five days a week. Chapman and her husband Mark Schoenfeld spend the other two days working on expansion projects.

The couple opened the year-round indoor swap meet last July. Their first project was to put up walls to turn open vendor spaces into individual shops.

"It was hard to keep people's stuff contained, so we thought why not have rooms for them to set up their own shops," Chapman said.

Work has also begun on a building a second floor to accommodate more table vendors, she said. She said the second floor should be complete by next year.

With warmer weather approaching, Chapman said they are also focusing on expanding the area outside the building reserved for the outdoor swap meet.

"We plan to cover the outside area to make it look more clean and organized," she said. "We also want to add an area for a snack bar and a platform for live music."

She said the goal is to create a fun place for families to hang out while attending the outdoor swap meet.

The outdoor swap season kicked off Easter weekend, said Chapman. She said outdoor swap meets are held every second and fourth weekend.

Vendors can sell at the outdoor swap meet even if they don't rent a space inside the mini mall, she said.

Chapman said she and her husband decided to open the indoor swap meet to provide vendors with an affordable space to sell their wares year round. Chapman used to sell online through eBay, but decided not to continue with that route, she said.

She said she also tried holding garage sales, but didn't feel comfortable having people constantly visit her home to buy things.

"I was driving down the road and saw this building for lease," she said. "I went home and said why don't we rent a building and let people sell their stuff like a big swap meet."

By the end of that day, they had committed to renting the space, Chapman said.

She said she knew other vendors would also appreciate having a space to sell their wares year-round. Current vendors sell a variety of items including clothing, furniture, leather goods and other handmade wares, Chapman said.

"It's like a giant swap meet, there's a little bit of everything here," she said. Vendors can rent their own space or split a space with another seller, Chapman said.

Most of the vendors also accept consignment items, she said.

The Moses Lake Swap Meet & Mini Mall is located at 4619 Stratford Road NE. They are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. For more information, call 509-750-3148.