The first ever Peachtree Vintage Market held in Clanton was a success and proved to be a hit among vendors and customers.

Lana Hardwick and Elizabeth Bottchen hosted the event, which was held at Elizabeth Hall in downtown Clanton on July 21-22.

The market included 11 vendors from throughout Alabama and Georgia with a variety of items for sale from furniture to jewelry.

The doors first opened at 4 p.m. on July 21 and people were already anxiously waiting to enter prior to the posted time.

“When you have them standing and waiting in line to get in, you know,” Hardwick said. “They were hanging around town just waiting to get in.”

After just one event, the market has already outgrown its current situation at Elizabeth Hall and is in need of expansion.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to take the plunge and go for it,” Hardwick said. “We both just love it so much. We plan on increasing it, we just have to find a place.”

Hardwick and Bottchen have been friends for the past decade and bonded through their shared passion for vintage products.

According to Hardwick, it was the first popup vintage market of its kind to take place in the Clanton area.

“I think it’s just a change in the way people think and they’re wanting to repurpose things and bring back the old,” Hardwick said. “If you take some solid wood furniture, it is going to last, while the new stuff may not.”

The vendor that traveled the farthest to attend the market was Blondeberries Vintage Market, who made the two and a half hour trip from Dallas, Georgia.

According to Kelly Smith with Blondeberries, she initially heard about the Peachtree Vintage Market from others on the picking scene.

She specializes in painted furniture and farmhouse décor, which she comes across by picking barns and even finding along the side of the road.

“Everything comes in cycles and right now vintage is the happening thing,” Smith said.

Blondeberries has attended about six vintage markets in the spring and plans to take part in 10 once the fall rolls around.

“The people have been so nice and so enthusiastic about being here,” Smith said. “I think it has been well received and you can tell the people are really enjoying it.”

Prior to the start of the event, Smith and her business partner Rita Milroy toured Chilton County for possible yard sale or picking options and made some stops in Thorsby.

“We’re always out shopping as well, trying to replenish our stock,” Smith said. “We sell just so we can re-buy. We enjoy the buying part, so we have to sell to feed our habit. It is an endless cycle.”

According to Smith, she and Milroy typically go on the trips together and the two of them do all of the setup required for their booth. They traveled to Clanton with all of there stock packed into a cargo van.

“There was not an inch to spare,” Smith said. “We’ve strained our backs before just to get it in [to a location].”

However, none of that adversity matters and the determination that they showed just to get to the market is similar to that of those who were lined up outside the doors waiting for the market to initially open.