This year, The Haunted Swap Meet event was held inside Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix on Saturday September 28th, 2019.
I do not have an estimate on the number of Halloween enthusiasts that gathered to buy sell or trade props, costumes, decorations, and other Halloween related items. However, what I do know is the turnout was far larger than I think anyone expected.
The lines wrapped around the stairs and outside the mall down around the old Sears and there was standing room only inside the space rented for the event.
On one hand it is extremely satisfying to see such a turn out of Halloween lovers, gives me hope the holiday is not as dead as some might think. For the last few years, when you walk into stores in October, you see Christmas, not Halloween. When you look for halloween events, you see churches running events in hopes of increasing attendance. Even in many neighborhoods, everyone has the lights out instead of handing candy out to the folks who put effort into dressing up and celebrating. But all that digresses from the subject at hand.
The huge turn out created an issue with ability to actually browse comfortably. As mentioned, there was standing room only and the space was not large enough for the thousands of people that showed up to find a bargain.
I do have some suggestions to improve upon on this issue which was posted to the
Facebook Event's Page. Now some of these will increase the cost which may mean they will need to charge a nominal entry fee (which will also assist with head count).
Some of these suggestions are a bigger location, next year maybe rent out both floors of the old Sears and seperate the merchants/businesses from the home haunters/swap meet/used stuff. This will increase browsing space and make it easier to locate deals by identifying the used merchandise that may be cheaper or have the ability to be haggled over.
Do 2 days, Saturday and Sunday. This will help with overcrowding to some extent. Now, you should still expect opening on Saturday to be large as no one would really want to wait till near close on Sunday when most of the best deals would be gone.
Maybe even do March and September. Many Haunters work on their Halloween stuff year round, also having one in March would increase the deals as many are more apt to sell items no longer being needed at an off time of year.
Spreading vendors out more will allow buyers to access each vendor from all 4 sides for better less crowded browsing. This will increase the experience for vendor and buyer.
Maybe even Sanctum of Horror Haunted Attractions (who sponsors the AZHaunters Haunted Swap Meet) can have a mini haunted house in a store the size of the one the swap meet was in this year. This would not only increase the draw for people in the East Valley, but dilute the traffic at the Swap a bit by spreading the flow out. This haunted attraction could even be up the whole month, making it worth while for Sanctum of Horror to attempt the endeavour.
Get a coupon to this haunted house here.
That is my two cents, lots of neat things to see, but little opportunity to purchase because of the crowds. Additionally, some of the merchants did not have signal and so could only accept cash.
I do think,
this year's Haunted Swap Meet learned and improved from
2018, but I think some of the changes (being inside instead of outside) drew a bigger crowd which created other issues. I think they will take much of the insight given this year to make next year more enjoyable. In short, do not give up on them, we need this type of thing to help keep Halloween Alive.
I also liked the
FREE picture with a Spirit!
Stay tuned for more information on The Arizona Haunted Swap Meet returning to Metro Center Mall on September 26th, 2020.
