WHAT’S OLD IS NEW: Vintage market bringing repurposed, handcrafted goods to Wasilla

WASILLA — Vendors slated for the first-ever Urban Junktion Vintage Market this weekend are depending on the truth in the old adage of one person’s trash being another’s treasure.

This Saturday and Sunday, July 16-17 at the Menard Sports Center in Wasilla, 32 Alaska vendors will come together to market their best vintage, salvaged, repurposed, altered and handcrafted goods to the general public. Whether it’s custom jewelry, an electric mixer made into a lamp or a tailgate converted into a bookcase, items for sale at the market are sure to make unique additions to home and style, according to show organizer Melissa Hyce.

“Most vendors are handcrafting their items, so in a way these are one-of-a-kind pieces specially made for the show … not something you can just go replicate and buy in bulk,” Hyce said.

The Urban Junktion Vintage Market — so named for Hyce’s independent business, Urban Junktion — is not the first in the Matanuska Valley. Alaska Chicks hosted a vintage home market show this past March and the year before, maxing out the venues each time.

Kelly Turney, who owns Alaska Picker in Wasilla, was a vendor at both Alaska Chicks shows and is now preparing for sales at Urban Junktion. He said the first, one-day show at the Palmer Depot in 2014 saw about three times the number of anticipated patrons at 4,500.

“We never expected that many people to show up,” Turney said. “The venue was overwhelmed, there wasn’t enough space for people to move or anything.”

This year, Turney said he and his fellow vendors saw roughly 7,000 people over two days at Raven Hall, and he sold out of 80 percent of his stock on the first day.

“There’s definitely a need for things like this,” Turney said. “You can tell by the turnout and the number of vendors coming out to participate, obviously there’s a demand for it.”

Hyce agreed, though the demand is apparently higher Outside, in places like Seattle, she said.

“There’s a show almost every weekend down there,” she said.

Hyce got her start as an “upcycler” in Washington a couple years ago, when she was living down there part-time. She said her main goal with the Urban Junktion market is to continue to grow the vintage and flea market scene in Alaska, encouraging shoppers to always be on the lookout for cool stuff.

Turney said markets like that of Alaska Chicks and Urban Junktion are also sure to be a great place to hear good stories. This spring, Alaska Picker sold a couple bed frames fashioned from parts of old truck beds, one of which made one couple very happy.

“One of my employee’s heard the wife say to her husband, ‘Honey I wanna make love in the bed of a truck every night,’ and he couldn’t get the money out of his pocket fast enough to buy it,” Turney said.

Turney said he’ll have another one of those beds at the Menard this weekend, but is not likely to produce more than a few more because of the time and labor involved in their creation. That novelty, he said, is in many ways what drives the markets.

“If you like it, grab it, ’cause there won’t be another one,” he said.

Tickets for the Urban Junktion Vintage Market are $5 for the weekend and doors open at 9 a.m. each day. The show ends at 5 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, including a preview of what’s in stock, visit www.facebook.com/urbanjunktion.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com