LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Linda Barton knew there was room in the Mahoning Valley for another full-time marketplace of local artisans, crafters and curators of vintage goods.
Her new Golden Age Vintage Marketplace occupies a former warehouse space that is connected to her Sweet Memories Vintage Tees store.
The new marketplace at 1282 Trumbull Ave., just west of the new Mercy Hospital Rehabilitation Hospital, is filled to capacity. More than 30 makers have rented booth space there.
Friday morning’s grand opening for Golden Age Vintage Marketplace attracted hundreds of visitors – proving there is also a demand for these interesting merchants.
They sell their own creations, everything from vintage goods to artwork, T-shirts to spices and many other things that are harder to categorize.
The products match the vintage logo apparel, old fashioned candy and games and gifts that can be found in the neighboring Sweet Memories store. They make a trip to the distinctive store even better.
Barton wasn’t the least bit surprised at the instant success.
“We have a huge, big, Sweet Memories family,” she said. “We’ve got regular people that come in all the time, and they give us a lot of really great ideas. These are the same people that have been following us on our journey for the last three years.”
Sweet Memories Vintage Tees & Candy opened in 2023 and has since become a destination for items that bring back fondness of days gone by.
The desire to launch a vintage marketplace grew from Barton’s knowledge of that sector.
“I’ve owned my own business since I was 23 years old, and before that I worked in a retail store where every couple of years my manager would go out of business and send me to the flea markets to liquidate his inventory,” she said. “So I’ve been selling stuff at flea markets since I was 16 years old. When I started my T-shirt line, I set up at every flea market to create awareness.”
It’s the physical labor that flea market vendors must endure that spurred her to action.
“Setting up and tearing down, setting up and tearing down, it wears hard on your body,” she said. “And you have to go to places where you’re competing with the other vendors. So I decided, when I opened the candy store and saw how successful it was, to turn my warehouse space into a small business retail incubator. It gives some of these small businesses a permanent space so they don’t have to keep setting up and tearing down all the time, and people can find their products consistently every day of the week.”
Maurice Scott of Youngstown, owner of Youngstown Apparel, is one of the booth operators. He’s thankful for finally having a permanent spot for his side business, which creates Youngstown-themed T-shirts and clothing.
Scott will still bring his goods to festivals but now has a place to send customers on other days.
“We love doing the festivals and have a pretty good following,” he said. “But being here creates a home base. When I leave a festival, I can point someone in the right direction.”
Scott, who is a manager of the area’s Lube Stop oil change locations, also stops at the marketplace two or three days a week.
He will be launching a website soon, but customers can currently contact him at his Facebook and Instagram pages.
Barton had one other reason for opening the marketplace: to salute the makers and builders from the past who launched products that have become known across the country. She has devoted three walls to information and photographs of Youngstown companies like Golden Age soda, Good Humor, Isaly’s, Handel’s, Lifesavers and the Packard Motor Car Co.
“The whole premise of the marketplace comes from Golden Age soda, which was founded in Youngstown in 1932 by Nathan Darsky, a Russian Jewish immigrant that came to this country in 1911,” Barton said. “He worked three jobs to bring his family over from Russia, and he started the Golden Age soda line.”
The line eventually was merged with Pepsi-Cola.
“It’s actually featured in the film ‘A Christmas Story.’ When Ralphie is shooting his Red Ryder BB Gun, he’s aiming at a Golden Age sign,” she said.
Barton contacted the great-grandson of Darsky, who lives in Cleveland, and gained permission to put up signage to salute Golden Age. She has a museum-like wall and a glass cabinet that holds Golden Age glassware and memorabilia.
Golden Age Marketplace is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Its vendors are Dream in Color, NutMeg, RustBelt Soapworks, Inked in Thread, Vivid Gypsy Goods, Wooden Nail, Iron Garden, Sonshine Blooms, The Farmer’s Daughter by Zahara, CAMArt, Iron Glass Art, Linda’s Bees, Youngstown Apparel, Because It’s Fun, Idora Park Experience, A Christmas Story, Wool War I, The Vault by Afterburner, Sabina’s Squishies, Lit Scenes and RetroSoul.
The Root Cellar portion of the market, which occupies two booths in the marketplace, offers edible products from Delirium Pickling, Kava Roasters, Lulu’s Baked Goods, Black’s Family Farm, Peace Blends, Tongue Punch Flavor Co., Baked by Watts, Meadow Farms, Poppin’ Kernels, Herbal Rayne Sourdough, Maggie’s Mac’s & More and Horning’s Sweet Heat.
Pictured at top: Linda Barton, owner of Sweet Memories Vintage Tees and Candy and the new Golden Age Vintage Marketplace.