This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
West Valley City •
In an age of big-box stores that offer much the same products whether you are in Salt Lake or Florida, wandering through a swap meet provides a much different experience.
Three of Utah's best and biggest swap meets are within a few blocks of each other in West Valley City.
There is the outdoor meet at the Redwood Drive In movie theater held Saturdays and Sundays. The Salt Lake Indoor Swap Meet at 1500 W. 3500 South is open Thursday through Sunday. And the Azteca Indoor Bazaar and Swap Meet at 3952 W. 3500 South is open daily from 9:30 to 7:30 p.m.
There are surprises around nearly every corner and enough bargains to make the budget-conscious spend some time looking.
Want to buy a soccer jersey and shirt combo for $15? Looking for cheap socks? Want to buy a bra, T-shirts three for $12 or a pair of shoes?
You can find these deals at the swap meets on any given day.
In just a short visit, I found auto parts, makeup, perfume, cellphones, fancy formal dresses, Day of the Dead statues, purses, luggage, art, soccer gear, boots, cowboy hats, videos, CDs, audio equipment, beauty products, jewelry, sunglasses, beauty salons, ethnic food courts, specialty pots and pans, and phone cards, to name just a few.
At one swap meet at the Redwood, there was a chiropractor. Several stores in the indoor meets offered homeopathic medicines and vitamins.
I was surprised to see a couple of computer repair booths, a tailor and a television repair shop in the mix of stores. Who knew that you could get stuff fixed at a swap meet?
The Redwood meet offers a wonderful booth filled with seat covers, floor mats and leather steering-wheel covers featuring cartoon characters or branding for your favorite vehicle. My wife, for example, bought some nice Jeep floor mats for her Wrangler.
I gave my granddaughter and nephew, both 13, $10 to spend and watched them shop. Granddaughter purchased a $3 pair of earrings and a $4 belt. Nephew wanted a soccer shirt for $15 so badly, I slipped him another five. Neither one of us realized that the deal also included a pair of matching shorts. He was thrilled.
My lone purchase this day was a pound of chili-lime pistachio nuts, a favorite of my wife. The nice Latina woman who helped me hardly spoke English, so we smiled a lot.
There is a definite ethnic vibe to the swap meets. In fact, the Azteca Bazaar features a beautiful and large shrine complete with candles to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Many of the restaurants in the food court offer tacos, Mexican baked goods and even the Roma Mexican Pizza Express.
John Crowe, who has operated a Thai import store from a booth at the Salt Lake Indoor Swap Meet for seven years, said that while Latinos are the major ethnicity at that facility, there are Koreans, Chinese and Indians as well. He likes the diversity.
"Thursday is slow," he said. "Sunday is my best day. … This is more like a hobby. I like to go to Thailand every year, so this is a nice tax write-off and a good hobby."
The swap meets are fun and a bit different from the normal modern shopping experience. The ethnic diversity adds one enjoyable element, but the chance to find an unusual store or a bargain in an obscure corner booth makes buying stuff more of an adventure than a chore.
Twitter: @tribtomwharton