Viroqua hosts Bad Axe Vintage Flea
This past weekend, in Viroqua, Wisconsin, vintage enthusiasts flocked to the city’s mural lot for a flea market focused on vintage clothing and wares.
The event that hosted 23 vintage vendors from across the Mid-West, drew a good crowd, affording not only an opportunity to browse, but enjoy entertainment by Dandy Freling from Milwaukee, and Lou Shields of Readstown.
The idea started with Stacey Roou and her sister Christa Vogt along with their good friend Eleanor Boersma. The market, Bad Axe Vintage Flea, coined its name from a well-known trout river in the Driftless, the Bad Axe.
No strangers to the vintage business, Roou shared she has a vintage shop online called Driftless Artifacts, her sister has a shop called Acre Vintage, and their close friend Nora Boersma owns the White Light Mercantile. “We just kind of go to Madison and Milwaukee and visit pop up vintage events. This area was in need for that so we decided, let's have one in Viroqua, so people from La Crosse, Dubuque and all over can come and shop. There hasn't really been anything like it, so we dreamed up Bad Axe Vintage Flea, and that was just like two months ago,” Roou said.
The city mural lot has never hosted an event before. “I was kind of the first one who asked for it, and worked with the city and Mayor and got the approvals. I think this is a potential lot for future events, because it's right on Main Street. The biggest part for me was bringing all these people here for the event so they could also shop on Main Street.” Roou noted the additional tourism draw that her event and others could potentially generate for Viroqua and surrounding areas.
Stacey’s husband Lou Shields said, “I'm so happy for her. She worked really hard trying to organize this and get everything going and get the city’s approval. It just really took off. I’m very proud and happy for her success today. It's just great to see all these folks getting together and enjoying what we love on a beautiful day.
“We'd love to have even more events, hopefully there will be another event in the fall next year and we can have, you know, 30 or 40 vendors,” Roou said with a smile.
Visit Driftless Artifacts, Acre Vintage, and White Light Mercantile on Instagram.
