Super Flea

Do not, I repeat, do not go here!!! The place was nasty, dirty, not air conditioned and smelly! A complete and total waste of our $ 2!!! If I could give it ZERO stars I would, but the app won’t let me!

This is a must see in KC. It’s not Nordstroms or even WalMart style– but it does give a glimpse of what the 99% of society does when funds are limited and shopping for essentials and luxuries are still on your radar. I’m surprised when I read the 1 star rating only imagining what was expected vs reality. Bargains are here– sure, there are pirated movies, DVD’s etc but it’s sold in front of KCMO cops who could care less. The majority of customers are minorities but it’s a safe place. Hats, auto parts, rugs, whatever are available– don’t wear your Gucci’s or heels– enjoy Americana and have a good walk for a buck ! When you leave the experience and people will be remembered.

This place is huge! It will take an entire day to complete. Admission is $ 1.00 per person now. I went here once back in ’07 and I remember it being a lot more creepy and dirty then. One «tobacco» shop even had a used hooker’s panties for sale for 50¢!!! But thankfully, I didn’t see anything like that this time around. You can surprisingly find a lot of treasures here. Brand new rims for $ 500 total, nice brands too. Booths that have everything you could need for your car audio system. KC apparel, Nike shoes, popular perfume brands (Juicy Culture, Armani, Gucci) for half price. Second hand clothing, used furniture, new area rugs. The first booth you see is full of pets, but I don’t agree with purchasing animals from pet stores, especially this one. The animals don’t get any light or fresh air :(That was the only thing I really disliked about this place.
It’s definitely an interesting experience. Most of the people we met were really nice.

Okay, so this is a different place for us, but I thought I would share our experience. We saw the sign from 24 Hwy, and I had to figure out what it was. When we pulled into the parking lot, which is surrounded by fencing with barbed wire, there was another person pulling in at the same time. I asked him if he had been here before. You could tell that he did not speak much English. I asked what was inside, and he told me everything. He then said that he was going in to buy rabbit food. We decided to take the leap. It does cost $.50 to get in, but you have to pay for an adventure from time to time.
We walked into the door, and the first thing I noticed was the very front vendor was selling pirated DVDs and CDs. We are not talking about having slick covers. No, they went to Wal-​Mart, bought a 100 pack of DVDs, white sleeves, and some Sharpie markers. There were movies spread all over the table.
There was also a place called the Pet Area. We kept hearing a rooster crow. We thought surely not, but there was a rooster in there. There were baby geese, baby chicks, baby ducks, birds, rabbits, turtles, mice, and reptiles. Part of me was surprised there wasn’t a miniature pony in the back of the area.
We continued to walk around. There were wheels and tires. We got to one place with really loud Middle Eastern music playing. They were selling swords, knives, air soft guns, and canned tuna.
The place is huge, and it seems like it keeps going on and on and on. We found some Spanish DVDs, English DVDs, tools, tons of car audio stuff, knock-​off purses, sports apparel, a food court (???), area rugs (some with pot leaves on them), a head shop, and so much more. There were some places which looked like someone was evicted and dumped all of their stuff in a booth (which the booths are made of 2x4s and chicken wire).
Everyone we met or talked to was super nice. It was a different environment for us, and we were the ones who really didn’t belong in that environment. However, I never felt like I was in danger or anything like that, although, it does kind of make you feel like you should. The wife actually said, «My mother would crap if she knew where I was right now.» I told her not to tell her since she would probably send for her to come back home to them.
When we left, we actually bought something (why does it happen like that?). As we got in the car, the wife told me, «I hope you enjoyed that because we are never coming back.»
Go… experience it to say you did it… regardless who you are!

Yesterday morning, Super Flea had no reviews. Now it has two!
After an interesting drive getting there via Independence Avenue/​Hwy 24 (I was told later you can take Front to Château) since I missed my turn originally, I finally arrived. My admission was only 50 cents, on a Saturday.
I hadn’t really been to a flea market in years, and the ones I had were small ones in western KS. The size of this one shocked me. I had no idea! I was looking for Griff’s place to get some sports stuff, and I was daunted by the task of finding it. Fortunately, I went into a place, where the guy had been there for 16 years, and he was able to hook me up to the right shop, and fill me in a few other pieces of information. :) Gotta love people like that!
It has all those things that Shawn J. mentioned, and more. If you’re looking for a knock off purse, there are some really good ones. Griff’s has great pro sports jerseys, tshirts, hats and more, and he was a great guy to talk to as well.
If you’re looking for some hoochie mama clothing (I wasn’t), this might be the cheapest (and the CHEAPEST) clothing you can get. There are lots of tshirt shops, with clever sayings, from cartoons, sports, drugs, etc. There were a couple other shops selling things you might not expect (I’m not even talking about the head, errrr, tobacco shops), and I’m not going to mention them here. I don’t think I want to know the types of people that are buying these things in the flea market… EEK. Scary, kinda.
As always though, buyer beware. I’m sure many people there are making an honest living, but some things I’d think twice about buying. Would you REALLY buy a Rolex from a guy on a street corner in NY and expect it to work correctly after a day? Well, that NY street corner can be found at spots in the Flea Market; all that’s missing is the trench coat. One item broke just by trying it on my wrist. Ummm, thanks for the reminder of caveat emptor! Unfortunately, that gorgeous watch will stay in its box at their shop. :(
There are plenty of ‘junk’ shops too; I think they rent shops by the weekend if you’d rather do that instead of a garage/​yard sale. I heard people haggling on prices, although apparently I didn’t show enough interest in anything to get that experience.
I’ll be back to go to Griff’s soon.
They are only open on weekends. Be careful getting there. :) If this girl can do it though, so can you. :) Went to visit River Market afterwards… wow, what a contrast it was! No hoochies down at River Market, and no wanna be hipster doofuses at Super Flea. ;)

When I’m back in Kansas City and have time to spare on the weekends I like to check out Super Flea. It’s located in the former Montgomery Wards catalog distribution center, and Super Flea has taken up a full floor of the building. I’ve watched as its changed and grown over the years, it’s now a lot easier to get through the maze of corridors than it used to be. For those of you who are old school Kansas City, this place will remind you of Wild Woody’s that used to be at Noland Road and I-​70.
So what can you find here? Anything and everything. Electronics, car stereo gear, car parts, perfume, «fresh» produce (cough), shaving blades, used video games, used office gear, and even adult DVD’s. They also have a smoke shop in there that carries stuff other places don’t.
Parking is across the street in a fenced in lot, admission is a buck. If it’s scorching hot out or freezing cold, this indoor flea market is a great place to explore for an hour or so. While many of the vendors are adding credit card machines, cash is still king here.