Swap

By JAN HOGAN

VIEW STAFF WRITER

Do you enjoy window shopping? Like to find a bargain? Or maybe you like to barter.

The Fantastic Indoor Swap Meet, 1717 S. Decatur (at the corner of Oakey Boulevard) has been "the" place for such people.

"This is really a bazaar," said Berny Krebs, general manager. "For the first time consumers can know the price is negotiable, it creates a fun shopping atmosphere."

He noted the swap meet offers a wide variety of items, all of it new (not used) and at prices 30 percent to 70 percent below retail.

In business since 1991, the swap meet opened with about 110 merchants and 300 shops. Now it has 350 merchants and 600 shops. It averages 12,000 to 15,000 customers each weekend, mostly locals.

The 600,0000-square-foot mart is easy to negotiate because aisles have been cleverly named after the city's more notable destinations (Bellagio Boulevard, for example).

Krebs said the hottest-selling items are framed pictures, silk flowers, jewelry and women's clothing -- in that order. Other booths feature merchandise like crafts, handbags, shoes, perfumes and children's items.

Las Vegan Dianna Sidebottom, 35, said she shops there three or four times a month.

"I'm always finding things," she said, gesturing to the packages she held. "Today I bought a wig and a pair of shoes."

Sidebottom estimated she saved $40 on the wig, compared to buying it retail.

Operators sign up for month-to-month leases, a real benefit for someone starting up a business or testing out the market. Krebs said a lot of the merchants began as home-based businesses and this helps them to branch out without encountering huge overhead.

Jerry and Betty Dietrich, whose booth sells exotic birds, could have opened their own store, but said they preferred to rent space from the swap meet.

"This is open three-days-a-week," Betty said. "We're semi-retired and we like it this way."

They've had their booth for eight years.

"We don't allow anything that doesn't fall under the umbrella of something that's family-oriented," he said.

And it has to be safe. One merchant was denied space because he wanted to bring in butane gas for making crafts.

The logo for the swap meet is a giant kangaroo, its pouch filled with wrapped packages. The symbol appeals to children and expresses a friendly atmosphere, Krebs said. It also didn't hurt that the recent Olympics used a similar-looking character, which he credits with boosting even more good will for the mart.

To keep things friendly, the mart occasionally brings in clowns or stilt-walkers, hands out candy at the door and offers shopping carts for senior citizens. The indoor swap meet is privately owned, and it also allows smoking.

And just so you know the mart is friendly, but not too friendly, a sign near the entry cautions: Free ride in a police car, if you're caught shoplifting.

The Fantastic Indoor Swap Meet can be reached at 877-0087.