Cardiff Indoor Flea Market

I had goggled vintage shopping in Cardiff before setting off and had been really organised, I wrote a list of all the places I wanted to pop into but after the disappointment of Fridays not so vintage window shopping I was hesitant about bothering with the indoor flea market as I really didn’t want to waste any more time. The reviews and their own website looked good though so I decided to make the trip. The name flea market intrigued me because that could mean that sellers could have pretty much anything, unlike antiques fairs which are often pricey. 

http://www.cardiffindoorfleamarket.com/

I took the number 11 bus from the city centre and twenty minutes later the driver, who had never heard of the indoor flea market, told me that this was the industrial estate I was looking for.

The site was well signposted and the warehouse that holds the flea market was really easy to find. It opened at 9am and I got there around 10. I was one of only a handful of other shoppers it was so lovely to be able to walk around without too much hustle and bustle.

It was like Aladdin’s cave, some vintage, some retro, and some just plain second hand. Items hung from the ceiling, boxes to rummage though were scattered around on the floor. Some stalls were chaotic piles of treasure to wade through and others were so organised they looked like little lounges.  It’s everything I love about these kinds of flea markets.

The warehouse itself is split into three main areas, the first of which housed tonnes of vintage furniture and I spent some time talking to the seller. He was happy to talk about the items and tell me all about how many people put deposits down and then are never to be seen again (who does that?) and he showed me his recently sale of a vintage larder in which the clock and alarm as seen below, still work. He sold this for £180, which by many standards is cheap.

A stunning 1930’s walnut dressing table sat amongst the furniture he had for sale and he also showed me these wicker chairs (below) which were in amazing condition with no breakages. 

Other stalls were selling lights from all kind of era’s, vintage mirrors, home furnishings and jewellery, and no matter whether the stall was specialising in one particular thing or not most of them had additional items such as books or jewellery scattered around them.

The next room contained less furniture and more jewellery, a huge book stall and a stall which was selling all kinds of ornaments and glassware, there wasn’t huge amounts of vintage clothing, a lot of stalls had their own little rail with a few items, I saw a Jaeger wool coat for £15.00.  There was even a stall that specialised in vintage and retro actions figures, a big bang theory enthusiasts dream!

I met the lovely Iris Namurach and her daughter who run the larger jewellery stall at the market (Em Jay Jewellery) who were so sweet and had some amazing items for sale. In the picture below you can see the gorgeous Lucite snowflake brooch she had available for £35.  They have a Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Em-Jay-Jewellery-904703482955023/ 

I also loved this beautiful green dressing table set and this gorgeous buckle that I was tempted to blow my whole flea market budget on. The record player below was a snip at £60, if only I hadn't been so far from home. 

There was only one seller that seemed to be dedicated to clothing. I didn’t catch the name of this blue haired seller but she was so friendly and helpful. She also had gloves in my size so I will be forever in her debt!

In this room there was also a barber for gents to get their vintage style taken care of and the “Nostalgia Café” where you could buy sweets by the weight (as I the only one that misses this?) and cakes etc. Thanks to how well organised it is and the fact that it has an eatery and toilets, you can enjoy hours here and stop for refreshments when you feel like it.

In the seating area of the café someone was playing guitar, I love places like this so much, all of the sellers knew one another and were chatting and laughing and carrying on with their regular customers. The sellers stopped to talk to me and ask where I was from and what brought me to the market. They all agreed on one thing, that it doesn’t get enough support for advertising that it’s there, and I have to agree that it could do with a boost as I am sure lots of tourists like me would love to go if they knew it was there.

The very last room was the auction room. Sadly the auction wasn’t until the next day but the room was open for people to come and view the items. I had to wander round the whole market twice because it’s so easy to miss things in a place that is so overwhelmingly interesting.

My Haul

I had limited my spend to £20 as I am not really in the market for buying but in the back of my mind were a couple of things that I am always on the lookout for including a head vase and a hat pin holder but these don’t come up as much as I would like.

Other things I am always on the lookout for include gloves since in my size they are not widely available.

The first thing I picked up was this cute brown bag, the clasp detail was what I really fell for and I had been after a brown bag to match some hotter shoes that I got on eBay for a couple of pounds. The bag was £7.20 and is made by Spearex for Boots.

The blue haired vintage clothing seller had, on my second trip around, started bringing out more stock including gloves in size 7.5, the seller offered to do 3 pairs for £10.00 so I really couldn’t say no! I wore the crochet pair the very next day at a wedding. 

All in all if you are in Cardiff or passing through the area I would highly recommend this market. I just hope it starts getting the attention it deserves.

You can take a little walk with me around the market here on my youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMR6IMsCVOQ 

With Love 

RB

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