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Fine Artisans and Antique Dealers
are among thousands of unique
vendors who keep coming back to
 the Original First Monday Park.  


 

Melissa Brownlowray of Hawkins sells hand-painted signs and vintage clothing. All the latest styles and fashion trends get their start in a flea market, she says.
 

 

Wylie Walden is a 20-year veteran of the Original First Monday Park. Today, you can find him in the Civic Center where he sells antique guns and holsters, Navajo blankets, and other "Cowboy" antiques. (click photo to enlarge)

 

 

The Flow Blue Brothers, James and Jerry Knightstep of Dallas, sell the English-made china in the Canton Civic Center. The brothers are the largest dealer of Flow Blue china in the United States. Here, they display a plate from the Cashmere pattern, which dates back to 1844. (click photo to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trade Days' finest vendors find their niche

in the Original First Monday Park 

 

 

Paul Michael Company

Selling high-end home decorative accessories at lower prices is how the Paul Michael Company describes its lucrative business in the Original First Monday Park. 

From indoor and outdoor furniture, to light fixtures and lamps, rugs and tapestries, pottery, clocks, flower arrangements, picture frames and original oil paintings, Paul Michael's sense of style appeals to First Monday shoppers. For the past 10 years, the large, colorful, eye-catching displays on Row 46 have lured thousands of shoppers into the Paul Michael warehouses where they quickly realize these decorative items are reasonably priced.

Paul and his wife, Debbie, who make their home in Lake Village, Arkansas, believe home decorating should be affordable to everyone. That's why they also deal with small businesses that often can't afford to buy merchandise in large quantities as required by most wholesale home decor markets.

Paul fell in love with First Monday Trade Days some 25 years ago at a time when he was buying antiques and selling to restaurants. With a keen business sense and a knack for forseeing future trends, he shifted his attention to fine jewelry. While looking in other countries for unique jewelry designs, he saw potential in the home decorative accessory market -- the focus of today's Paul Michael Company.

In addition to his business in the Original First Monday Park, Paul Michael Company has stores in Lake Village, Arkansas, and Monroe, Louisiana. (click photos to enlarge)

 

 
 

 

'As long as people have horses,

 there's always going to be a market for saddles'

"Saddle John" Morgan of Terrell, Texas, says he's living proof that "you don't have to grow up."

For the past 14 years, he's been selling hand-made saddles from the same corner in the Original First Monday Park. In March, he figured it as 168 First Monday Trade Days.

"I've made saddles for country-western stars, rodeo stars, and famous restaurants and dance halls," he said. "But, right here on the First Monday grounds is where I fit in best."

Saddle John, as his fellow vendors have come to know him, says he will spend anywhere from 70 hours to 300 hours between Trade Days weekends crafting one saddle. "It's an Old West look for a modern-day horse," he said.