Vintage fashion market makes stop in the Queen City as part of global reach

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — ThriftCon is making its debut in the Queen City this weekend. 

The traveling fashion market is taking place all day Sunday, Dec. 3, at The Park Expo & Conference Center. 

“Anything from $1 items to $1,000 items,” ThriftCon co-founder Mars Conte said. “Things you’ve never seen before and may never see again. It is the best vintage market in the world, we like to say.” 

In 2018, Conte went from owning a vintage clothing store to helping launch a global spectacle. What started out as a convention in Denver, Colorado, has now become the largest traveling vintage market in the world. 

“We actually have a running tab our website that’s like, ‘tell us where to go next,’ and we’ve gotten thousands and thousands of responses on that over the last couple of years, and in the last year and a half, Charlotte has constantly been in the top 10,” Conte explained. “So, that’s one of the reasons, you guys have asked enough. We thought Charlotte is somewhere we should probably check out.” 

“Lot of love and great energy in the room at all times,” said vendor Alexander Zdroyevski. “Nothing but positivity at all of these events that I have done.” 

Conte says about half of the vendors are local to the Charlotte area, including Old News Vintage in NoDa. 

“I think that is great just for Charlotte,” shop owner Nate Cyr said. “It shows that we are growing, we do have a number of people here that are culturally involved in the clothing world and more and more people are getting hip to it. But it is just also a great thing for Charlotte and the growth of our city, that’s how I see it.” 

Organizers say there will be around 150 vendors and are expecting at least 8,000 people to attend. 

For more information, visit the event website.