If there’s one thing that Eric Johannsen knows, it’s the flea market business, and it’s been something he’s shared with his wife, Tanya, and daughter, Shelby.
It’s truly become a family business for the Johannsens, so much so that they decided to open their own flea market, Hickory Pick’N, just off I-20 in Hickory.
Now, they have a new extended family, including vendors and customers who walk through their door.
“The flea market business is about family,” Johannsen said. “It brings family together. It’s brought us closer together, and you see other family members working together when they have their own booth at a flea market.
“And you really get to know someone well after you’ve been working with them in the flea market business. One of my vendors was a former Sunday school teacher’s family. I knew who they were, but I never really got to know them like I do now. We’ve gotten to know them so much better through flea markets, and that’s true of anyone I’ve met in the flea market business.”
Hickory Pick’N is like no other flea market. In fact, Johannsen said he really wanted it to be a straight flea market, but Tanya wanted it to be more like a boutique. As the market has grown since its soft opening back in April, vendors have taken ownership of their booths and decorated it much like a boutique.
“I really have to give our vendors credit for that,” Eric said. “One vendor really went all out and decorated their booth. Then, another one decided to do the same thing and go a little bigger. And it’s kind of turned into a competition between the vendors, with each of them trying to outdo the others. But that’s really made our market unique.
“It really makes me feel good whenever someone comes in and says that this doesn’t look like any flea market they’ve been in, but it’s really been the vendors who have made it like this. They deserve the credit for it.”
One area that the Johannsens want to excel in is customer service.
“Whenever someone comes through the door, I want to make sure that I talk with them, thank them for coming and ask them if I can help them,” Johannsen said. “Many flea markets you go into, sometimes no one may ever talk to you while you’re in there, but I don’t want that to be our market.”
Eric said it’s been a dream for him to open a flea market in their current building. He started thinking about the idea more than a decade ago. However, it never worked out until earlier this year.
When the Green Thumb closed, the building came available, and that became the Johannsen’s opportunity to open a flea market.
“I always thought this building would make a great flea market,” Johannsen said. “It’s a great location right off the interstate. It just never worked out until earlier this year.”
Eric didn’t have high expectations for his opening day back in April. The most promotion the business had was a story in The Meridian Star and temporary signs that Eric placed on the road that morning.
“I was overwhelmed by the response we had on our opening day,” Eric said. “We had a long line of people waiting to buy from us. Granted part of that was due to the fact that we weren’t very fast with our computer checkout system, but it was just amazing how many people we had come out.”
Now that the grand opening is approaching, Eric said they want to say thank you to their customers and vendors. They will have an official ribbon cutting at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday.
On hand for the festivities will be John Henry Berry, mayor of D’Lo and star of “Small Town, Big Mayor” reality TV series on UP. He will be on hand to meet customers and sign autographs.
Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen Holly Brand will sing the national anthem to kick off the festivities. T&J Concessions will be for food concessions. There will be snow cones available along with bounce houses for kids.
“We want to have something for the entire family,” Eric said. “We hope everyone will come out and celebrate with us.”
