Old Brookfield flea market sets up shop in Hubbard

Several former Valley View vendors are moving to the new location.

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

HUBBARD — Valley View Antique Shopping Mall in Brookfield has closed after years of operation, but many of the vendors who called the market home have found a new place to do business.

Jeff Anglin and his son Dustin Anglin have started the Hubbard Route 62 Flea Market, operating Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays on Youngstown-Hubbard Road just inside the Hubbard limits. A couple dozen of the vendors who once operated at Valley View have set up shop in the new location.

“Our family ran the auctions out of Valley View in the back before they closed, so we knew all the people, and that made their transition here a little easier,” said Dustin Anglin. “Everyone seems happy.”

Del Lambert had been setting up tables covered in unique glassware, gold and other types of jewelry for sale at Valley View for more than nine years. He is happy with the new location, but said it will take time to get the operation up to full speed.

“It just takes time to get the advertising and let everyone know we are here,” he said. “It will be OK after awhile, but it just takes time.”

Owner J.V. Ferrara recently informed vendors at Brookfield that he would close the building, rather than spend more than $1 million to repair it. The difficult decision, he said, would end 48 years of his family’s retailing on the Warren-Sharon Road site.

A vendor’s comment

Amanda Burrell sold books, handmade jewelry and “a little bit of this and a little bit of that” at Valley View for several years before the flea market closed. She likes the change in atmosphere and thinks the owners will encourage growth.

“I like this, I like it a lot. Valley View had been going into a decline. Some days nobody would really be there. Then you come here and they really want to help you. It’s refreshing,” she said.

Jeff Anglin said growth and expansion are exactly what he is looking for in the future of the business.

The large building, which once housed a car dealership, is being half-used by the current vendors. Anglin hopes to make use of the rest of the building and a large portion of the parking lot as well.

“My future plans are to open this up and put vendors throughout here,” he said. “If I can fill it, I’ll fill it. I also want to do craft shows, auctions, just any kind of vending.”

Anglin is already planning a craft show to take place sometime in October and a motorcycle swap meet to take place in early November.

“Some vendors may be skeptical that this is going to work, but I feel it has all the potential to do well with the right management,” Anglin said.

jgoodwin@vindy.com