It all began in 2018 when I discovered being zero-waste which introduced me to the real impact humans are having on our planet. This inspired me to ditch my job and create a business sewing reusable products to help spread the message to tread more lightly.

A few years in I discovered I had a knack for collecting vintage and secondhand clothes so completely flipped the business to become a vintage clothing boutique but with the same ethics. I started selling online via instagram and eventually found my place at market, Central Flea in fact. I settled in for what would be an incredible 3 years building a market family and second home. Fast forward to 2022, having my first baby and making the move to Taranaki, the best decision we could have made for our small family.

As baby grew I got itching to start up the business again but being short on time and space I knew I needed to look into markets, but where? New Plymouth has an amazing array of events but there wasn’t quite something curated specifically to secondhand with a community focus… I tried to ignore the thought eating away at me but I couldn’t stop it from constantly creeping back: why not create something from scratch?

And so The Pickers Market was born and it has become my second baby. Bringing with me over 5 years of market experience in Auckland I have combined all the things I love about every event I have attended: the ability to be indoors, zero-waste and a curation of both secondhand AND locally made.

You can find us at Ferndale Hall off Frankley Road on the last S U N D A Y of every month and you can trust that as a fellow stallholder myself and an avid tree hugger that a lot of thought about the planet and community goes into every event… heck you may see me hauling crates of reusables or digging in bins to sort waste (if I’m not trying to wrangle the toddler!)

None of this would have been possible without the support of my beautiful family both in New Plymouth and those who travel from Auckland/Wellington for each event (you know who you are.) and to the amazing Taranaki community for rallying behind our first event in August 2023 which really set the wheels in motion. Thanks for all your support, I hope to see you at market soon.

-Brooklyn