Caesar Creek Markets in Wilmington, OH, is open for business despite a March 16 fire that led to the demolition of one section of the building and the need to gut and rebuild the rest. Renovation of the gutted portion of the structure is underway and one indoor section with about 20 vendors will reopen in early June, says Greg Dove, president of Levin Service Company, parent company of Caesar Creek Markets. Each of building’s seven aisles has 60 booths and many vendors occupy multiple booths. “We expect to have construction completed and everything up and running by mid-September,” Dove says.
Vendor Ignores Safety Rules
The market is open Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and vendors set up on Fridays. “The fire occurred on a Friday and vendors were in the building,” Dove recalls. “We have a closed circuit camera and we actually saw the fire start when we played back the tape. It was an electrical fire that was caused by a vendor who had violated the extension cord rules in our market. For me the fire was déjà vu,” Dove expresses. “Our other market, Treasure Aisles in Monroe, burnt four years ago. That fire also was started in a vendor’s booth by an electric cord. It’s very difficult circumstances and we’ve had some managers move on because the stress was too much for them.”
Businesses at the market, which has 150,000 square feet of indoor retail space and room for 200 to 300 vendors outdoors, include produce, a motorcycle dealership, grocery items, leather goods, cut glass, collectibles, clothing, candle shops, a tattoo parlor and a very large home furnishing dealer. It hosts approximately 550,000 spectators a year. To keep the market open and help vendors through the transition, Caesar Creek provided indoor vendors outdoor storage containers and shelter. “The vendors have gone through quite a shock,” Dove acknowledges. “We have businesses that have been here 30 years and are multigenerational including one business that was founded by a displaced truck driver in the early 80s. His job prospects weren’t good so he started a business here. He now employs three generations of his family and he distributes his product throughout southwest Ohio. The flea market industry is entrepreneurism at its most fundamental level,” he notes.
Vendor Recovery Fund
To further assist vendors, the market is not charging rent and has started a Vendor Recovery Fund for those vendors who did not have insurance. “We’ve been collecting money at our gates and we’ve had a number of very generous donations,” Dove points out. “We’ll be using those monies to help vendors get back on their feet. I’d like to thank the National Flea Market Association (NFMA) for its generous donation of $2,500 along with everyone who contributed to the fund. I appreciate the numerous member markets around the country that reached out to us in support,” Dove emphasizes. “It was really a pulling together of the industry after the fire.”
For more information:
Caesar Creek Markets
7763 State Route 73 West
Wilmington, OH 45177
Tel.: 937-382-1660
Web: www.caesarcreek.com/