Vintage Market Days
Vintage Market Days hosts 125 vendors, hand-selected from more than 400 applications, to bring shoppers the best of the best.
Life certainly has a way of preparing us for what’s to come, and like Kim Denard’s experience, we may not even realize it at the time.
As the owner and promoter of Vintage Market Days’ Birmingham market, Kim first experienced the one-of-a-kind shopping event in Lebanon, Tenn., and was instantly hooked. “I fell in love with the event because everything had a story,” she said, recalling the vast number of vintage and antique wares being sold by an array of vendors. It sparked a desire in her to go deeper with Vintage Market Days. But what did that look like? And how would she do it?
Professionally, Kim’s resume includes years of experience in marketing, business management, finance and logistics for multiple state-wide and nationally recognized brands. But, personally, she enjoys shopping for vintage and antique goods and supporting small businesses – especially those owned by women.
Vintage Market Days
Years of attending Vintage Market Days throughout the Southeast allowed Kim to hear many of the vendors’ stories, many of whom are mothers like her, and get to know them on a personal level. “The more I listened to their stories, the more I realized we had a lot in common,” she shared. “Many had once balanced corporate jobs and family life, just like me. I knew then this could be more than a dream.”
In 2018, with their children in college, she and her husband, Taylor, applied to become vendors at Vintage Market Days. Shortly thereafter, an opportunity arose to purchase the Birmingham market. And they took it. In her first order of business, she relocated the event from Talladega to The Finley Center in Hoover, where they now host spring and fall shopping events each year.
Vintage Market Days
Today, Kim is working in her dream job as the owner and promoter of four Vintage Marker Days markets, including North Alabama, Chattanooga, SE Louisiana, and of course, Birmingham; a role that requires the perfect combination of her professional skills and personal interests.
Her next big event – themed “Be Lovely” – is scheduled here, in Hoover, on February 12-14. “I was born and raised in Birmingham,” she added. “When the events are in my hometown, it just means so much more.”
Kim and her team work hard to make Vintage Market Days a memorable shopping experience for each event’s 6,000 expected guests. Inside The Finley Center, shoppers will find 125 curated vendors hailing from Alabama to California, and everywhere in between. The vendors are carefully selected from more than 400 applications to ensure a comfortable variety of goods and products in each category, which includes mostly vintage and antiques, but also clothing, home décor, treats and other creative finds.
Vintage Market Days
For some vendors, Vintage Market Days is the only place shoppers can touch and feel their products. Kim shared that there is one vendor in particular who sources all her items directly from Paris but only sells them via Instagram Live. Vintage Market Days is a rare chance to see and purchase her products in person.
Selfie walls for photographs, free buttons proclaiming a “First Visit” or “Happy Birthday,” and surprises like live music and line dancing create a community celebration that’s more than a day of shopping. Kim said the February event will have a cooking workshop and a make-it, take-it project with Hammer & Stain, a local DIY business in Hoover.
But more than the delightful surprises and unique finds, Kim said there’s one thing shoppers can do to ensure a very memorable experience. “Talk to the vendors,” she encouraged. “A lot of them have amazing stories of how they came to realize their dreams.”
They just may inspire you to realize your dream, too.
For more information on Vintage Market Days, event tickets, and to register for specialty workshops, visit vintagemarketdays.com and Vintage Market Days of Birmingham Metro on Facebook.
Sharing the love
Vintage Market Days contributes a percentage of its proceeds to The Dannon Project. The Dannon Project is an Alabama-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that offers jobs and job training to high-risk youth. According to their website, The Dannon Project “envisions a community where at-risk youth have the tools and support needed to become law-abiding, productive citizens who participate in building healthy and safe communities.”
Their supportive services include short-term training, certifications, job placement based on each person’s interests and skills, and re-entry case management services to repair, restore, and renew participants' lives. With 96% of program graduates retaining jobs at 2 years post-graduation, The Dannon Project is helping to give a second chance at success.