3/14/2015
Brian Leaf, RRStar

By Brian Leaf Rockford Register Star Posted Mar. 13, 2015 at 7:00 AM Updated Mar 14, 2015 at 8:49 PM ROCKFORD — Organizers are planning three Saturday vintage markets this summer at the new-and-improved downtown City Market grounds. Downtown Rockford Vintage Markets has requested a special-event permit for June 20, July 18 and Aug. 15. A permit application, which the Rockford City Council will consider Monday, estimates that the 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. event will draw 1,500 people downtown, where a pavilion is under construction. It's part of $792,100 in improvements that are being made to the popular City Market site at the corner of East State and Water streets. Cathy McDermott, administrator of Rock River Development Partnership, which oversees City Market operations, said the idea is based on a vintage market in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which opened last year. She learned about it at a conference and thought it would be a fit for downtown Rockford. She said the Rockford market will have 30 vendors, who will apply and be selected based on items they plan to sell. Quality vintage, antique and repurposed goods will be the priority. "Vintage is huge," said Sonya Dowdakin, who owns Salvaged by Sonya, 330 E. State St. "Vintage-market women drive hundreds of miles to come to them." Dowdakin said vintage became chic in the early 2000s because of HGTV shows centered on buying, reusing and refurbishing secondhand stuff. It remains a hot retail trend. Last weekend, Dowdakin said carloads of women from Chicago, northern Illinois, and southern and eastern Wisconsin descended on area vintage shops for Vintage Shop Hop. The Facebook-driven event included 200 vintage shops in an area that stretched from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Dubuque, Iowa, to Kankakee. In the Rockford area, vintage shoppers got a card that was marked at various stores in the area. McDermott hopes many will be drawn to the vintage market, which like the Friday markets will have food, beer and wine, and live music. Swingbilly RFD, which plays swing and honky-tonk music from the 1940s and '50s, has been booked for two Saturdays. Vendor applications are available at rockfordvintagemarket.com Brian Leaf: 815-987-1343; bleaf@rrstar.com; @b_leaf


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