CMU Flea Market

Last Thursday, the Carnegie Mellon University Flea Market last Thursday brought student and local vendors to Simmons Auditorium. The event was organized by a team of eight students as a curricular project for Introduction to Entrepreneurship.

Carnegie Mellon students sold clothes and jewelry, and there was a succulent table with miniature potted plants. Table games offered a chance for students with Cup Pong skills to win plush toys and other prizes. Local businesses took part in the market as well, including the cat lounge Rescue and Relax, an Edgewood-based nonprofit offering cat fostering and adoption.

The inspiration for the event was an attempt to find a creative way to bring in the most money, competing with other groups also testing out entrepreneurial ideas for their business development class. The team wanted to do something different, outside the box of the usual bake sale, said student Brian Hsu. Where the money goes is largely at the students’ discretion, with the requirement of donating at least ten percent of the profits.

Students' responses were positive and excited, Hsu said. Beyond just a class project, Hsu says the Market would make a great annual or semiannual opportunity for students to get together and ply their wares.