Swap options: Local swap meet scene marked by variety, low prices

Kimberley McGee

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001 | 8:21 a.m.

Gyrating Elvis clocks, watches with Jesus' smiling face, feather boas and boa constrictors are a few of the items available for sale at the handful of swap meets around the valley.

And that's merely scratching the surface of the subculture that exists at the informal marketplaces, where cash and compromise hold sway over credit cards and corporate attitudes.

That's what attracts newlyweds Brian and Robin Lynch to swap meets each weekend.

The Las Vegas couple spent an hour on a recent Sunday morning wandering the aisles at Broadacres Swap Meet, at 2930 Las Vegas Blvd. North, with their arms full of the day's purchases fishing poles, packages of white socks, a painting and bags of fresh produce.

The Lynches have been going to area swap meets for the past few years to search for uncommon gifts such as handmade Indian peace pipes, spears and elaborately painted boxes.

"You never know what you'll see here," Robin Lynch said. "There's a different cultural thing going on here."

The Las Vegas swap meet market is ripe, said Jeff Teller, vice president of Silver State Events, Inc., which has operated a large swap meet in Orange County since 1969 and will open a swap meet Nov. 17 at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The Silver State Market Place will host more than 250 vendors, artists and entertainers from Southern Nevada at its monthly swap meets, which will be held the third weekend of each month in the parking lot of the stadium.

Teller said the focus of the swap meet is as much about entertainment as browsing for deals.

"Value is, of course, the main draw. People want to find a deal," Teller said. "But it's more than that. It's a fair, a festival and shopping."

Home grown

Broadacres has been a Las Vegas institution since it opened in 1977. It has grown from a no-frills dirt parking lot to a paved city of vendors winding over 5 acres of land in North Las Vegas.

Leather dealer David Rodgers and his family have had a booth at Broadacres Swap Meet since it opened. Rodgers and his wife, Cheryl, are the second generation to buy, sell and trade their leather goods, cowboy hats, raccoon tails and small animal hides at the swap meet.

"It's tradition for us, but it's really nice to be at the swap meet," Rodgers said. "You become a close-knit family."

The couple and their son work Fridays through Sundays selling items to an array of shoppers -- from the stay-at-home mom who wishes to re-upholster the couch to the Renaissance actor who uses the hides as part of an authentic costume.

"It's one place where you can meet half a million people and learn something different every time," Rodgers said. "It's really all about the people."

He has clients who return each weekend to say hello, as well as check out what's new.

"You meet so many people from so many lifestyles that are just there to walk around and have a good time," Rodgers said.

Nick Atanasov is an 11-year resident of Las Vegas who began working in a small restaurant at the swap meet when he arrived from Bulgaria.

He opened his own restaurant, Nick's Cafe, at Broadacres three years ago when the brightly colored shack became available for rent. He and his family sell standard American fare, he said, with a dash of good nature and warmth.

"I wanted to work here," Atanasov said. "It was very good to have so many people coming all the time and they know you, each other."

Regulars begin to line up at Nick's each weekend morning for coffee and to chat before strolling through the aisles of the swap meet.

"It's a friendly thing to do," Atanasov said. "The swap meet isn't just a place to shop. It's a place to see things."

Inside trading

The words "swap meet" elicit images of low-priced goods, antiques and unusual finds where haggling is expected.

Tucked in the back row of booths next to a rare coin booth at Fantastic Indoor Swap Meet, 1717 South Decatur Blvd., is KWA Africa, owned by Ann Marie and Warrick Price.

The Prices sell abstract stone elephants, wood masks and other African sculptures, which Warrick Price acquires from visits to his native South Africa.

The couple have traveled around the world, gathering pieces of art from street-side markets in far-off cities. Their Las Vegas swap-meet experience mirrors those exotic markets, if only in the attitude of the shoppers.

"The swap meet is like a Pakistan market place," Ann Marie Price said. "People love to haggle and are always looking for a bargain-basement price."

The Prices, who sell real estate during the week, said their main goal in setting up the booth at the swap meet is to expose Las Vegans to art. Many of the vendors, Price said, feel the same.

"Las Vegas needs a bit of culture," Ann Marie Price said. "Here (at the swap meet), there are people from Ecuador and China, everywhere, trying to bring a bit of their art and culture here and make a business, too."

Nadja Beheschti began working with her mother, Zarin, four years ago at Fantastic Indoor Swap Meet.

The Persian immigrants came to the United States in 1996. They were introduced to the swap meet by a friend, who told them it was a great place to stock up on household items such as towels, kitchen supplies and wall paintings.

It became their future.

"My mother thought right away that this is where we should be," Nadja Beheschti said. "The people were warm and very interesting."

The mother-daughter team started their business small, selling rhinestone elephant pins, gold bracelets and other jewelry.

Their business has expanded to include items for their regular clientele of visiting grandmothers and mothers, as well as local dancers who purchase clothes at the Beheschtis' booth.

"There's such a diverse group of people working and coming (buying) through here," Beheschti said. "This is a place for women. They come in every weekend to say hello and talk and browse. They don't always buy, but it's nice to come and just say hello. We are good friends."

Recently the Beheschtis assisted a mother searching for just the right shawl for her daughter, who is in the military. They found a bejeweled blue shawl they knew would satisfy the mother's discerning tastes.

They sold it to her at a deep discount and with a big hug.

"We knew her and did what we could," Beheschti said. "She was very touched. That's the difference between a mall and us. People are warm. It's fun. It's personal."

Day trippers

Native Las Vegans Uniqua Tanner and Erika Samuels make a point of visiting the Rancho Swap Meet, at 2901 W. Washington Ave., each weekend to check out what's new.

"I didn't see this before," Tanner said as she walked the aisles on a recent Sunday and a row of silver necklaces caught her attention. "This wasn't here last week. This is nice."

The pair strolled the aisles of clothing, jewelry and furniture looking to buy new outfits or gifts for their families.

"Every weekend it's different," Tanner said. "We buy our clothes here because they are made different, better. You can't find this stuff in a mall."

Alfredo Fernandez and his extended family, who live in east Las Vegas, visit swap meets each weekend.

Recently they ventured to the Rancho Swap Meet to buy a large metal pot that a cousin had seen on sale the week before.

"You see different things at each market (swap meet)," said Fernandez, as he held a potted bamboo plant that he had impulsively bought. "We come out to see what there is to buy, and see the people out, talk to the other people (who are) selling. It's a family thing, sure. But you can't find other stuff (at the mall) like you can here and have a good time."

For seamstress Maria Gomez, her weekend job at the Rancho Swap Meet gives her an opportunity to stay at home with her 3-year-old son, Gustavo.

The seamstress hems formal dresses for her mostly Spanish clientele, as well as school clothes for children and work clothes for their parents. She has stitched wedding dresses, altered suits and let out pants for growing boys and girls.

For Gomez, working at the swap meet is a family tradition. Her father has had booths at area swap meets for a decade.

"It's like a family here," Gomez said. "There's no way to explain it. It's just the way the swap meet is. It's special."

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