F1 Pit Flea Market

This was one of those fun fleas that somehow took away the seriousness fleas have become in competitive Singapore. Though we could feel a little frustration in the air with vendors trying to justify the time, effort and money put into setting up a booth where little shoppers turn up, but somehow a strange thing took place. Vendors started making friends with their neighbours, sharing business tips, products, battering goods and buying from each other just to encourage one another.

I hear laughter, see smiles and people encouraging each other. Now thats the spirit of entrepreneurship. Who says business is all a bed of roses but when difficulties arises, we make friends and find strength in each other to move forward.

I see sparks of creativity and loads of fun! I met this group of siblings who named themselves JS Cup Cakery, a home baking business with Nutella as their bake theme dressed in a blue t-shirt with large printing of JS, later i met their mom, dressed in that same blue t-shirt feeling all proud of her children. This bunch had support from their friends and relative and love their marketing gimmicks, not only they decided to walk around dim sum style selling their bakes, one even waved their board high while roaming the event place.

We also found some exquisite vendors like GrazieOnline.com selling handmade baby stuffs with prints so cute and bibs so pretty that will make babes look too adorable. More creative stuffs include table top mini garden that is carefully landscaped in glass jars, themed with petite animal figurines made available by Glass Garden.

So after we found some crazily fun vendors and some artisan vendors, while walking through the long line of tables, we smell something alluring, unfamiliar yet exotic... There we are stopping by Freda'D Parfum, listening to the story of how the art of perfumery is being passed down by two generations above to the 2 bosses helming this brand. We tried the various self concocted fragrances and love the thought of clashing at similar fragrance during meetings. But if you would love some really classic off the shelve scents, there's always Purrfume Nation that brings the best bargains in famous fragrances.

Its surprising how many home bakers we have and i simply love the fact that so much effort is taken into making their merchandises so pretty. Though the location sucks, the marketing could have been done better to draw more crowd and organizers putting in more effort in making the event perform better, one thing i must say...

You vendors ROCKS!!! There were super few big players, almost none and most vendors are new start-ups with plenty of great products, ideas and creativity in store, I am totally blown off! Haven't had so much fun at a flea market since ages!!! So i'm giving all 3 stars to you happening vendors. Keep up the good spirits and your great business ideas... you can make anywhere HAPPENING!!!

The location is out of the way, no public transport, no parking, no everything, to get there you need some foot works, even if you are driving.

If you finally made it there, probably you would be soaked in sweat.

But ...

Many flea markets in Europe are located at secluded places and it can be fun to explore and find surprises, seldom you will be disappointed.

It was a hot Saturday on 10 May 2014, the dormitory lookalike building has nothing to attract anyone's attention except that it is a F1 pit, there was no sign of life when I got there, not to mention any sign of flea market going on there. However, it slowly came alive when more vendors set up their stalls, and people started to flock in.

The air-conditioning was very welcoming! as a matter of fact, you would want to go out for sun tanning after staying in there for 30 minutes! the space was generous and it was quite comfortable to stroll and browse the merchandise and stalls in the hall.

It was not a big flea market, there were about 100 stalls selling pre-loved items, handicrafts, home made foodies, fashion accessories and many others, sounds like same as any other flea markets?

Not really so ... I feel.

There were quite a few new comers and entrepreneurs, they put up their best shots for their goods, so much so that these merchandise are like art pieces, especially those sweeties, our Malay and Indian friends have their cultures embedded in those cookies and desserts, not only they taste good, but also lovely to look at.

The crowd turnout was not encouraging for the vendors, but I think this should be expected as the location is not at all an ideal place for flea market unless the organizer put in a lot of efforts in advertising and promotion, but by doing so, the rental costs will go up.

But I think that was a good platform for vendors to gain some experience, explore new opportunity and get to network with other vendors for future possible business collaborations, flea market is not about your own products and services, it is about creating an unique theme and culture, create a community and work together again for next venture, once the community is established and expanded, the flea market will attract people to visit irregardless of location.