Here’s a hearty welcome to 2009 and a glad goodbye to 2008. Well I had said that the casinos, Wal-Mart and the flea market were all doing quite well, but I was wrong about the casinos, looks like they are starting to hurt like a lot of other traditional businesses.

Talked with several flea market dealers and they said that their business was either the same as last year or up somewhat. Of course these were guys that operate under the theory that I like to talk about - “Stack it deep and sell it cheap.” That’s a great way to market your goods. You can’t make it with a light inventory. Or as my dear wife says you can’t sell from an empty wagon!

If you are selling on the road this year we will have available a great booking guide to help you out. Sure good to see the price of gas dropping down, I paid $1.29 this morning. Made me very happy, sure it made the Arabs unhappy. Road expenses should be a little bit more tolerable this year.

It seems like those electronic games are hotter than ever, if that’s possible. The Guitar Hero in all of its forms is really ‘hot’ as is the Hannah Montana guitar game designed in pink for the young ladies. Don’t overlook electronics as a good line for the upcoming season, but be sure you can sell them at the right price. Consumers will be a lot sharper this year as they have less discretionary money to be spending for pretty’s.

There must be an awful lot of people driving around lost these days! The GPS companies are banking on lots of folks not knowing where the heck they are. And to watch the commercials on TV you would think that one out of two people can’t find their way home in their own car. I sure had no idea why people were buying those GPS gadgets. Now I know - while we were sleeping aliens from outer space (GPS invaders) came and removed 50% of the populations sense of direction!

With the way that the economy is I would sure recommend that you be careful about booking into some of the fairs... If you gut reaction is that and event is overpriced then it probably is! Faced with rising costs themselves and in many cases lighter attendance than usual, some big fairs are simply jacking up the price of doing business on the backs of vendors. Some, not all of the larger fairs are definitely overpriced for the state of the economy. Do your homework and you should be OK.

I am again recommending that you consider focusing on festivals, both local and some of the larger ones that would require driving to and staying on site. These events are usually priced a lot less than the fairs and they can draw some real live wire, good spending crowds.

Don’t forget that Jerry Stokes, the flea market master, is putting on a big flea market in Charlotte, North Carolina January 17 and 18. Contact Aileen Lisk, Box 26652, 28221. (800) 824 3770 or (704) 596 4643. Website: Charlotte Flea Market.com or you can always call Jerry at (704) 536-3214. Should be a great weekend.

Here in the Midwest one of the best places to get some great flea market merchandise, at rock bottom prices, is at Adams Auction at the fairgrounds in Belleville, Illinois. The auction is held on the last Tuesday of each month and is just loaded with good stuff. Often 4-5 auctioneers are going at the same time with large volumes of merchandise moving. Always lots of great new flea market merchandise along with many high quality collectible treasures; lots of items great for malls and shops as well. You can call the auction at 618 234 8751. It’s well worth the trip.

Here's to great sales and may the sun shine on every spot that you set up at.

Jim and Georgia Goodridge