The Orange County, California Fair Board of Directors has unanimously reversed a decision made in September to evict Tel Phil Enterprises’s swap meet, the Orange County Market Place, from the fairgrounds effective March 2013, according to a report in the Orange County Register.
Productive Chat Leads to Mending Fences
The nine-member board voted 7-0, with two members absent, to rescind the eviction notice and cancel a request for bids from other operators after CEO Steve Beazley and two other board members had a productive conversation with Jeff Teller, owner of the marketplace, and were able to get on the same page. The eviction was prompted due to declining finances of the flea market and bad feelings between the two sides after the state attempted to sell the property in the past few years.
According to the Register, it is the fourth time in the 42 years Tel Phil has run the market place that the operator has defeated a threat to replace or close the swap meet. After the original decision was made two months ago, dozens of angry vendors protested the verdict at the board’s monthly meeting.
The Orange County Market Place is open for business Saturdays and Sundays from 7 am to 4 pm, with nearly 1,000 vendors selling at the market. Admission is $2. For more information, email info@ocmarketplace.com.