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Vendors scramble to move or fold

Life after the Peddler's Mall means continuing a dream or letting one die. The bell tolls Sunday.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published January 28, 2005

BRANDON - As she filled vials of scented oils, Jean Newcomb broke the news to her longtime customers: She was being evicted from Peddler's Mall and Flea Market in Clayton Plaza.

A few weeks ago, the picture looked bleak. Her store, 1st Choice Gifts, had lost its home at the indoor flea market on State Road 60. Vendors at the Peddler's Mall had to clear out fast. As of February, Burdines-Macy's Furniture and Mattress Clearing Center had leased the space.

Newcomb, who has sold aromatherapy oils at the Peddler's Mall for four years, scrambled to find a new place. Her customers started bringing in the largest bottles they could find.

Newcomb filled them at bargain rates. There wasn't anything else to do.

Then a longtime customer handed Newcomb a piece of paper. He wanted to help. Scribbled on the paper was the phone number for the property manager of a strip center that he owns at 117 W Windhorst Road.

Within a week, Newcomb was outfitted in a freshly painted store.

"It's like a dream come true," Newcomb said. "You wouldn't dream how hard I've worked."

A number of Peddler's Mall vendors are wearing relieved expressions on the eve of their final sales day, Sunday. Nearly a dozen have banded together to rent space next to the Winn-Dixie at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Parsons Avenue.

Others found temporary accommodations.

Perfume store owner Vijay Wadehra thought he could move into a store at Winthrop. Eventually, he planned to move into another store there. But construction delays prevented him from getting into either space.

At the last minute, a friend came through with a space in the Post 'N Pack store at 9648 U.S. 301 S in Riverview. Wadehra expects to be there for about a month, then move to another temporary site in Winthrop's first commercial building.

"I'll be on the phone a lot," he said, noting that each move would require a round of calls to clients. "I've worked too hard to get my customers. I'm not going to let them go."

All of the vendors wished they had more time. Vendors didn't receive official notice from the owners of the Peddler's Mall chain until last week. Some are so disgruntled that they are closing up. The owner of a sword shop plans to return to Puerto Rico, where he owns a house. Wood carver Thomas Roberts planned to lie low for a month because he was too upset to make decisions.

Other vendors scrambled. Betty Hilbert of the Bead Connection had just two weeks to sign a lease, get the power running and secure insurance for a large store at 747 W Martin Luther King Blvd., where a dozen vendors will share space.

"My nerves are shot," Hilbert said. "These are things you plan for three months to six months."

But not everyone could come along. At K.C.'s Sportswear, owner Kyong C. Walker decided to store her inventory until another flea market opens this spring in north Tampa.

"I have no choice," Walker said.

Loyal customers shared the misery. Melody Hanson of Riverview has spent the better part of her Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays scouring the market for new items.

"It's like family," said Hanson, who visits with the vendors as she makes her rounds. Now she doesn't know where to turn. "Some of the stuff that I'm used to finding here, I'm not going to find it anywhere else."

Letitia Stein can be reached at 661-2443 or lstein@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 27, 2005, 09:33:08]