Deep within a random storage unit in San Diego County, a treasure trove of clothes sits on stacks atop a red rug. The inside is like a thrifter’s dream, with vintage clothes and old antique goods covering the exposed cement walls. This is the unofficial HQ for 21-year-old Adrian Reyes and 20-year-old Alia Kircher. The couple runs two separate businesses Chop Shop and I Luv Figs alongside a joint store called doesyourbellyache? As if that wasn’t enough, they also manage one of the most popular flea markets in San Diego County known simply as Hotspot.
Despite how it may look, the storage room is an organized chaos for Reyes, who easily described the rough layout of everything in the dense locker. For Kircher, it’s a different story, “There’s been times where I just let Adrian come here. And I’m like, ‘can you just get this, this and that?'” she said while laughing. It’s an obscure dilemma for most, but it’s just another weekday for resellers like Reyes and Kircher. Before owning a storage unit Kircher stored their stock in her garage, but as fast their business ventures expanded their space decreased.
Since childhood, Reyes and Kircher have been surrounded by not just fashion culture but also picking culture, both shared numerous childhood stories of going to thrift stores with their parents and filling their carts full of clothing. They laughed while describing the mutual disillusionment felt from seeing thrift culture becoming acceptable in modern society. Kircher began selling when she was 16, first on Depop before doing markets at 18, but Reyes said he’d been vending at flea market events since he was 13.
It’s been a long time coming for the business partners, they’ve explored the flea market scene in San Diego in its entirety and for nearly two years they’ve carved a little piece of it out for themselves.
The Hotspot Flea Market began on August 20th, 2022 with Kircher as the sole coordinator. At the start, Kircher’s only desire was to have a space for herself and her friends to get together and have fun in one place. Since then, it’s completely spiraled into a small cultural hub where people join together and share their love of art and vintage goods. A place where old vendors and new vendors alike can engage with their customers on a personal level.
That being said, a pleasant experience is always on Kircher’s mind each time she and Reyes set a new date for Hotspot. “…I think now I see more of like, an opportunity to help like a lot of sellers in San Diego or SoCal. Like, just to have a place to vend you know, and, like a fun place to vend. It’s still about having fun and I think that’s our main thing we try to have everybody’s experience like a good experience,” said Kircher.
Reyes joined as co-owner after the first Hotspot event and since then it’s been a joint effort to continue to make the market a safe and inviting environment. There are a lot of flea markets native to San Diego that accomplish similar results, but very few have tried to expand as widely as the couple has.
Ultimately, Kircher and Reyes are trying to regulate a market that is completely unregulated by design. Reselling is like the Wild West of commerce. Instead of going through traditional brick-and-mortar, you’re interacting with sellers individually. Each time you buy from one you don’t necessarily know the personalities and mindset they have going into it. The couple intends to alleviate that experience and guarantee customers won’t have to worry about the kind of people they’re purchasing from.
“I think we really try to pick vendors that have great customer service because I think with reselling… you don’t have a boss… you don’t have like a boss telling you like, you have to be nice… I think everybody that sells at hotspot is a representation of us,” said Kircher
Reyes was quick to also put the responsibility on market owners as well, “if you’re not putting out good energy and setting up all of your vendors and stuff to like, have a good day. It’s not gonna be like a good market,” he said.
Despite their good intentions, the couple expressed personal hardship in maintaining this level of decorum. Not everyone holds themselves to the same standards they do and because of the nature of reselling, it’s very easy for things to get personal. On this topic, Reyes said, “The fact that this business is so unregulated. I feel like there’s really the opportunity there for your business to really mesh with your real life, like your actual life… It’s difficult to navigate for sure.”
Both expressed how much of a blessing it’s been for reselling to be their full-time job, but they ultimately distanced themselves from others who place themselves on an unrealistic pedestal. Personal profit from their market is not their priority, instead, the overall experience of Hotspot is their main concern.
“Even if people don’t spend anything, like even if they come with $0 I’d want them to have fun… sometimes I don’t really care about more about the money that’s like coming in, I care more about the energy and the experience that people have so that they want to come and that they don’t feel left out…,” said Kircher.
In the future, Reyes and Kircher are planning to expand Hotspot further and make the event more event-based than purely commercial. In the past, they’ve experimented with night markets, live DJ sets and food vendors. They’ve even hired artists to do cosmetic jewelry on-site. The couple wants to continue in this direction, essentially turning Hotspot into a community space that just so happens to have vendors.
Their forthcoming Hotspot event on the 22nd of June represents the fruits of their labor. It will be hosted at a new location featuring live bands and a 1 dollar clothing pile. In addition, 50 percent of the admission sales and 100 percent of the profits from the pile will be donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization.
On top of being partners, resellers and event coordinators, it seems the couple wants to add philanthropists to their growing list of titles.
Turn off the Bright Lights 