Inside the Fight to ‘Save’ Fashion’s Favorite Flea Market

Million-dollar farm fields, emu eggs, a case of cardiac arrest and allegations of conflict of interest now plague what was once an annual shopping bonanza of all things old and wonderful.

“It’s one of the only places you can bring a phonograph needle and get $5,000 for it because there is someone looking for that exact thing. This is where antique dealers bring their rarest items. We get people from Europe, Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand — it’s world-renowned. My main customers for years have been fashion designers,” said Eric Schultz, who oversees his family business, Brimfield Barn.

But like most things these days, particularly in the secondhand market, the show has become increasingly business-like over the years. In January 2020, just before the pandemic, Klia Ververidis and her husband purchased one of these fields for $1 million — with the prospect of new business from the antique market swelling the land’s overall valuation.

When speaking with vintage dealers about the root of their problems, one name continues to circulate: Ryan Olszta. A young police officer by day and town selectmen by night, some say Olszta is spearheading the new bylaws that they claim will cause the show’s demise. Even with two jobs, Olszta still finds time to raise emus. As proof of good faith in his views on the show, he said: “I’ve come to know a lot of vendors and field owners — many are friends of mine. Every now and then the chicks that don’t hatch, I give fetal chicks and eggs that don’t develop to a couple of the oddity dealers.”

In mid-March, Ververidis and others started a social media campaign to “save” the Brimfield Antique Flea Market — setting off a spat between her and Olszta and further dividing townspeople over the event.

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