The NW’s Largest Garage and Vintage Fall Sale will once again return on Nov. 6 after a 18 month hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kim Buffum and her husband, David, were inspired to start the sale after visiting swap meets and flea markets with his family in southern California.
“They have them all the time in southern California, but up here, there was nothing like it,” Kim Buffum said. “We were in Packwood, Washington in 2008 and David started talking to one of the guys who ran one of the big garage sales. He told them, ‘You know, I should start one of these in Portland,’ so he talked to me about it the whole way home that day.”
The Buffums had no experience in running events, but they were confident they could pull it off and spoke to some of the vendors at that market for advice. From there, the couple reached out to the Portland Expo Center, where they started Portland’s Largest Garage Sale in April of 2009. The event featured about 200 booths. At the upcoming sale, Kim Buffum expects about 600 booths. Many of the vendors from the first event in 2009 will return, along with new ones.
Kim Buffum said the sale will happen at a perfect time.
“I feel like people are ready to get out and do some community events and see people they haven’t seen in a while,” she said. “I’m always by the front doors and see so many families gather, and their eyes light up the moment they walk in the door because they don’t realize how big it is until they get there.”
As the Pacific Northwest’s largest garage sale, people can expect a massive variety of goods like antiques, electronics, bicycles, toys and food. Vendors also get to keep 100% of the money they make from sales.
The Vancouver Girls Softball Association will hold a fundraiser during the event. They will run a holding area where people can store their items in case their load becomes too heavy and will help shoppers to their vehicles afterwards. The association will sell raffle tickets at the event for prizes.
Masks will be required for both vendors and shoppers, but proof of vaccination is not needed.
The fall sale will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 6 at the Clark County Fairgrounds, located at 17402 NE Delfel Road in Ridgefield. General admission tickets for adults are $7, while kids under 12 are free. Early bird admission, which is at 7 a.m., will cost $20.
