Antique Shoppers Decline

To gauge the relative success of this fall’s antiques and fleamarkets, it is useful to talk to a long-time venue owner like Warrenton native Betsy McCormick.

McCormick confirmed reports of somewhat fewer customers this time around, but added that fall shows are usually somewhat less busy than those in the spring. “Plus it’s an election year and people are always a little distracted during those,” she said. 

The big high end items may have sold less well but, the ‘bread and butter’ inventory did just fine, she noted.

“But it’s gotten so big and spread out and goes on for so long, that there are just increasingly smaller pieces of the pie,” McCormick said speaking of the customer base.