For Lodi Street Faire vendors, success is hit and miss

The line to purchase a Lockeford Sausage bends around the corner of Church and Elm streets on Sunday during the Lodi Street Faire. (Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel)

For Lodi Street Faire vendors, success is hit and miss

By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Monday, October 8, 2007 6:40 AM PDT

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The roughly 700 vendors at Sunday's Lodi Street Faire come from all kinds of backgrounds.

Some go to a different event every week or so, whether it be a flea market, festival or the Street Faire. Others are trying it for the first time.

Kelly Geist — "like poltergeist," she said — said she was busy selling thousands of dollars of antique family furniture to keep her from losing her house. She doesn't have the income she used to because her husband is ill.

Geist, a lifelong Lodi resident, had hoped to sell an 1800s credenza side board made of burlwood and walnut for $3,200. However, there were no takers by the time the afternoon came, so she reduced the price to $2,800. Other items she had for sale included a circa-1900 phonograph.

All she could sell Sunday were some small antique items and a set of two chairs with an ottoman, according to Geist's sister, Karen Stiver of Lodi.

Another first-timer at the Street Faire was John Gutierrez of Elk Grove, who brought a handful of furniture, such as a $1,100 homemade bench and some large armoires, but they didn't sell either.

"I don't think this is what this town's looking for," said Gutierrez, who spent the day on School Street with Matt Foccacci, also from Elk Grove.

Ty and Elaine Stephenson sell antiques at Lodi's Street Faire on Sunday. They said they enjoy selling at the Street Faire and have been vendors for 10 years. (Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel)

Although the Street Faire didn't begin until 8 a.m., some were there as early as 5, well before the sun came up.

While some vendors struggled to sell their wares, Ty and Elaine Stephenson of Sloughhouse got up at 2 a.m. and arrived at their space in Lodi at 3:45.

"We did pretty good," Ty Stephenson said. "We made about $1,200."

One year, they took home $2,400.

The Stephensons were another of the many people selling antiques and collectibles. Ty Stephenson was a lineman for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District for 31 years, and his wife sold advertising and managed the real estate section of the Sacramento Bee.

When they retired, they began collecting antiques and then selling them. They rent space in an antiques mall in Citrus Heights. And they've been at the Street Faire for 10 years. The only other event they show up to is one in Sacramento.

"Lodi draws more people," Elaine Stephenson said, explaining why they enjoy coming to the Street Faire twice each year. "(People here) are willing to buy nice things."

A onetime Lodi resident, Stephenson said she also enjoys returning to her old hometown to eat.

Street Faire extremes

Jewelry was among the smallest items sold at the Lodi Street Faire on Sunday. (Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel)

The Lodi Street Faire had something for just about everyone, and you could spend a few pennies — or a few thousand dollars. You could buy large things, small items, funny things and the highly unusual. Here is an unscientific sample of the extremes of the Street Faire:

Largest: Probably an SUV being sold by Lodi's Plummer Cadillac. Among items that aren't motor vehicles, it would have to be the 12-foot-long walnut table sold by East Bay Antiques from Oakley.

Smallest: Rings, sold by several vendors, and a miniature tea cup that resembles a thimble. However, the tea cup was part of a miniature dining-set including a plate, all for $8.

Most expensive: A Plummer SUV, $44,615. A 12-foot walnut table, with 10 walnut chairs, a sideboard and server table, was priced at $12,900.

Inflated price: An old sign that reads "Our advertiser smoking tobacco — 10 cents." The catch is that it cost $89 to buy the sign for the 10-cent tobacco.

Greatest morality: An old sign at a beach that prohibits showing skin between the knees and neck. Wherever the sign was found, the community had a Department of Morality that enforced the law.

— News-Sentinel staff

"The good food — the Lockeford Sausage and tri-tip sandwiches," she said.

But yet another vendor couldn't compete with the 700 who swarmed Church and School streets between Lockeford Street and Lodi Avenue.

David Mohsini, who opened East Bay Antiques in Oakley, couldn't move his expensive furniture, including a custom-made 12-foot-long table and 10 chairs, all made of solid wood, along with a good-sized sideboard and server table. The set was made in about 1920. No one would fork out the $12,900 asking price.

"We could have sold it for a lot more, but the economy's down," Mohsini said. "Three years ago, it would have gone for $20,000."

Mohsini has been a vendor at the Street Faire for 13 years. The only other street faire where he sells merchandise is in Pleasanton, along with some indoor antiques shows. But Sunday wasn't a good day for Mohsini.

"So much for Lodi."

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Lodian wrote on Oct 13, 2007 9:13 PM:

" To Lodian: And again, just for your slow comprehension ability... I used "shenanigans" as a description for being spirited, playful, silly, full of fun and jokes. I have never condoned "crime". Don't you know the difference? Can you understand? Probably not. Well, continue with your strange rant about crime being okay and comparing crime to spirit week at the local high school. You're off your rocker. "

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