TCVM Tri-Cities Vintage Market - A Brief History
•Publicado el febrero 08 2025
The TCVM, or as it is officially known, Tri-Cities Vintage Market, was founded in July of 2021 by The Fuzzy Felt / Timothy Leingang. The first TCVM took place on July 24th 2021 in the backyard of the Leingang home. There were 8 vendors who set up and sold vintage goods at TCVM 1. 
The original idea was to create a market that was filling a void in the Tri-Cities. There were already flea markets, antique markets, yard sales, estate sales. but nothing to showcase the curated clothing and goods for the modern generations. Rare out of production fashion, accessories, pop culture memorabilia, video games, toys, music, art, and collectible cards, TCVM 1 filled the entire backyard with vendors and their goods and the large turnout in people made it immediately obvious that the next TCVM would have to be at a larger venue.
The parking lot of Groovy Records was the location for TCVM 2. 20 vendors on September 26 2021 filled the tight asphalt parking lot of the Record store in Kennewick. 
The 2nd event was such a success that it again was immediately apparent that the next TCVM would have to be at a larger venue. Although outdoor events were fun and easy, the Tri-Cities weather can be very difficult to pull off an outdoor market. It is either windy or scorching hot, or wintery. 
The new idea of organizing a market for every season was exciting but now the goal was to find a indoor home for the TCVM.
The Uptown Theatre in Richland was the home for the next 2 years worth of markets. From our first market at the Theatre on Dec 4 2021, to the last one on Dec 2 2023, we hosted 9 markets during this 2 year period and developed our quarterly schedule. The goal was to have a market on a 3 month cycle and timing it with the beginning of every season. 
At one point we were using all 3 rooms at the theater and were able to bring in an average of 35 vendors at each market. It was also during this period of time that we found that we were consistently selling out our vendor spots. Although the theatre is an awesome and historic resource for the Tri-Cities, it was time for the TCVM to find a venue that offered the possibility to expand.
In the fall of 2023 we signed contracts with the Hapo Center as the venue to host all our 2024 events. We initially started out in the Atrium of the Hapo Center where we were able to have approximately 40 vendor spaces. The attendance at the markets was now significant and kind of cemented us in as an established event in the Tri-Cities. 
It was obvious after our first Spring Market on March 23 of 2024 that we had created a monster. Our attendance, parking needs, and the vendor spaces selling out within an hour after release made it clear that again, we needed a larger room, and because of the current size of the market, we were down to only a few options that could even accommodate us in the Tri-Cities. Our last market at Hapo was in the Arena. 
This 45,000 square foot arena was way more space than we needed so we were given a 1/3 of the room. The magic number became 15,000 sq feet. It was this amount of space that seemed perfect for the TCVM.
Fall of 2024 began the hunt for the perfect 15000 sq foot room for the TCVM. The Tri-Cities really only has like 4 facilities that can accommodate this. We have chosen the Benton County Fairgrounds 15,000 sq ft Building #2 as the perfect spot for the TCVM. As this article is being written our first event there is upcoming on March 8th 2025. We now can offer over 70 vendor spaces of various sizes in one room in the Tri-Cities. Our events now feature vendors from all corners of the Pacific Northwest. There are ideas being discussed about future expansions and possibly teaming up with another organization once or twice a year to present a grand PNW event.
Comentarios
0 Comentarios
Dejar un comentario