By Elizabeth Cook
ecook@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — The new Webb Road Flea Market going up off Interstate 85 will be more fire-resistant than its predecessor, says Catherine Popp, one of the property’s owners.
But vendors might feel like setting off fireworks when the new market opens over the July 4 weekend.
The old market’s wooden structures burned to the ground on Sept. 3. Investigators said they probably would never know what caused the fire.
LaFave’s Construction Co. of Landis is at work on the new market, which will have metal buildings with wood-post frames. No sprinkler system is required or planned, Popp said, but the buildings will have fire alarms, enhanced security and surveillance cameras.
The flea market will hold a grand opening on July 1 and be open the entire holiday weekend, through Monday, July 4.
Interest from vendors has been strong, Popp says. “We are better than 50 percent leased.”
The market will have 10 buildings, each 12,000 square feet. A covered breezeway brings the total square footage to 130,000, she said.
That will include two buildings that are fully enclosed and heated, six buildings that are enclosed and unheated and two open, shed-type buildings.
“You’ll be able to see us from the highway,” she said. “We’ll have a red roof.”
Spaces will be 10-by-10 feet, 10-by-20 feet and 10-by-30 feet, with lockable storage areas in the larger spaces.
Spaces in the open-air sheds will be leased out for $14 a day, with those vendors required to take their goods home each day.
Large vendors who have committed so far include Furniture and Dan’s Tools, Popp said.
Two produce vendors are joining the lineup, she said, and a food-court-type area will include an American grill and a Mexican restaurant. Funnel cakes, ice cream and other snacks will be available.
Technically the market’s address and entrance will be on nearby Leach Road, in keeping with zoning requirements. But it will still be called the Webb Road Flea Market.
Popp said her father, Tom Walton, and his partners opened the original Webb Road Flea market in 1985.
Other owners now include her husband, Joey Popp, and sister and brother-in-law Libby and Chris Stephens of Morganton.
Buddy Johnson has continued to manage the flea market, which missed only one week of operation after the fire.
For more information about the Webb Road Flea Market, call Buddy Johnson at 704-857-6660.