Wolff's Flea Market Blog

When wandering the aisles at Wolff's Flea Market at the Allstate Arena Rosemont, do you sometimes wonder where you are? Just look down and you will see that we have painted a helpful grid with numbered and lettered spaces. Rows are lettered A through Z, with numbers ranging from 1 to 20ish. The east section is closer and perpendicular to the building and is called "The Single Letter Rows". A1 is by the southeast entrance, A2 is south, etc. The "Double Letter Rows" are located in the west lot. So how do you explain exactly where you are? Just learn the flea market alphabet! For beginners. A-Apple B-Boy C-Charlie or Cat D-Dog E-Edward F-Frank G-Girl H-Henry I-Ida J-Jack K- Kangaroo L-Larry M-Mary N-Nancy O-Oscar P-Paul Q-Quincy R-Robert S-Sam T-Thomas U-Umbrella V-Victor W-Walter X-X-ray Y-Y Z-Zebra Oh yeah, if you have any questions, just look for a staff person wearing a chartreuse shirt!

August 13, 2013 Too much to read? Just scroll down to the pictures below.... Flea market vendors may find this guide helpful when shopping for merchandise from websites, wholesalers, importers and other sources. Countless online sites like ebay, alibaba.com and dhgate.com, as well as your locally owned independent store and "a guy you know" provide an unfortunate mixture of legitimate and counterfeit products at "too good to be true" prices.  When obtaining your merchandise, please avoid the counterfeit and trademark infringing items pictured and described below. These specific iPhone accessories have been chosen for this guide because of their popularity and prevalence online, in independently owned stores, at wholesalers and because of their eventual appearance at the flea market level. As always, realize that we are not legal or trademark experts, nor are we affiliated with Apple.  We are a small business that conducts ongoing counterfeit research via retai...

SAVING STICKMAN Born: 9:23am 7/8/2013  Passed: 9:25am 7/8/2013   Stickman Jones recently met his demise in an experiment gone wrong. Investigators are currently looking into possible deceitful behavior by overseas counterfeiters or simple human error by Wolff's Research Zone Team members. Involved in the incident were one lab gorilla named Charlie, a standby fireman named Tom and a doctor named Jerry. On Monday, July 8, 2013 at 9:24am CST, Stickman Jones was drawn, placed inside a suspected counterfeit LifeProof iPhone case and pushed off a cutting board platform into approximately 3" of lukewarm water. All signs pointed to the fact that Mr. Jones did not know how to swim. First of all, he was made of paper and drawn with water soluble marker. Plus, according to witnesses, just before the push-off, Jones was heard saying, " I can't swim! Hope this case is waterproof! " This statement was either ignored or misunderstood by Lab Gorilla Charlie, ...

WANTED Counterfeit iPhone chargers: Alias: “ Abble ” Warning: May contain green dots and model number A1265 White & multi - color Last seen inside an “iP” box, clear wrapper or loosely displayed 2 BAD APPLES:

Updated 9/16/13 Before you begin, I will spoil the ending by telling you that for every cool item listed below, there lurks its illegal, counterfeit doppelganger , hoping to lure unsuspecting consumers into an evil web of decadent deceit. I have seen these wretched real-wannabes. In person. Online. At privately owned "licensed" stores. At the mall. In kiosks. At purse parties. At resale shops. At wholesalers. On eBay. Occasionally at big box stores. And, yes, I have even seen counterfeits at Wolff's Flea Market. What?! Wolff's Flea Market doesn't allow counterfeits! Of course we don't. But you are also not allowed to rob a bank, drive over the speed limit, sell drugs or use child labor to manufacture counterfeit products. Crime happens. Counterfeiting happens. All authorities can do is try to control it and get to the sources to stop its spread. It is a daunting and ongoing task for every agency. We work our wolf-tails off trying to follow trends, educate ...

Wolff's Flea Market response is to Brian Dukerschein’s April 13 article, "Counterfeit Luxury Goods Invade Chicago".  http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130413/ISSUE01/304139986?template=mobile&X-IgnoreUserAgent=1   (In order to read the full Crain's article, you will need to register for free at chicagobusiness.com) My name is Sharon Wolff. I am Creative Media and Merchandise Consultant for Wolff’s Flea Market, Chicago area. Our family-owned outdoor market has operated at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont since 1991. We also operate an indoor market in Palatine. I am writing to several Crain's staff in response to the aforementioned article with the intent that this message be read and understood by many in the Chicago community. Wolff's Counterfeit Cartoon First, realize that not all flea markets tolerate counterfeit products. Wolff’s public stance is that counterfeit merchandise is neve...

In keeping with state law and safety standard, we do not allow the sale of novelty lighters at Wolff's Flea Market ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY PUBLIC ACT 096-1174 EFFECTIVE DATE 7/22/2010 SOURCES & LINKS:   http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=096-1174 http://www.ncdoi.com/osfm/Fire_Safety_Programs/Default.aspx?field1=Novelty_Lighters&user=Novelty_Lighters   ACCEPTABLE LIGHTERS A Novelty lighter is a "mechanical or electrical devise typically used for lighting cigarettes, cigars or pipes that is designed to resemble a cartoon character, toy, gun, watch, musical instrument, vehicle, animal, food or beverage, or similar articles, or that plays musical notes, or has flashing lights or other entertaining features" A novelty lighter may operate on any fuel. including butane, isobutane or liquid fuel Novelty lighter does not include any of the following: A lighter manufactured before January 1, 1980 A lighter incapable...

PART ONE: IPHONE ACCESSORY EDUCATION - BOXES For Merchandise Rules, go to:  http://wolffs.com/pages/merchandise PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE SEVERELY RESTRICTING THE TYPES OF  COMPATIBLE APPLE/IPHONE/IPOD/IPAD ACCESSORIES ALLOWED AT THE MARKET We appreciate everyone's cooperation as we enact this protocol. Due to the popularity and exclusivity of Apple products, several versions of infringing chargers, cases, earbuds and packaging, etc. exist online and from other sources. It is possible that generic, compatible non-infringing items would be allowed, but this is a complicated situation and we must take it upon ourselves to analyze various parameters in order to make a final decision regarding the appropriateness of individual products.  Please call with questions. While we are not legal or trademark experts, we are currently studying this ever-changing, developing situation and creating our own guidelines.  Ask before you buy cell phone accessori...

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By Sharon Wolff I grew up watching Clint Eastwood movies and have been observing his head for two years. Mr. Eastwood resided high upon a shelf in Stan's booth at Wolff's Flea Market, Palatine. He appeared to be a creation by an unknown sculptor that I believe captured his calm and self-confident persona. Just kind of hanging around, perhaps a little dusty as funky like other funky flea market treasures. Just waiting for the right buyer, any buyer. Passers by may or may not have noticed him. But I saw him. In fact he inspired me to create the SIMPLY HEADS facebook photo collection. Every time I passed him, I thought, "Yup, that's Clint, he still there, his fixed stern gaze perhaps guarding Stan's antiques and collectibles booth. No one would mess with Clint Eastwood. So, imagine my wonder when I saw one of our more colorful shoppers, Mark casually carrying Clint off into the sunset. Well, not really the sunset, just up and down the Palatine aisles and int...

COUNTERFEITS FROM OVERSEAS WHO IS CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION?  Sharon Wolff  Quotes from the source: “The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) keeps foreign pirated and counterfeit goods from being imported to the United States.” http://www.stopfakes.gov/us-gov-agencies/cbp “The trade in counterfeit and pirated goods threatens America’s innovation economy, the competitiveness of our businesses, the livelihoods of U.S. workers, and, in some cases, national security and the health and safety of consumers. The trade in these illegitimate goods is associated with smuggling and other criminal activities, and often funds criminal enterprises. CBP protects businesses and consumers every day through an aggressive IPR enforcement program. CBP targets and seizes imports of counterfeit and pirated goods, and enforces exclusion orders on patent-infringing and other IPR violative goods.” http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/priority_trade/ipr/ That said, we r...

TROPICANA HOTEL, LAS VEGAS FEBRUARY 4-6, 2013 Wolff's 2013 NFMA Conference Crew Wolff's Flea Market is a member of the National Flea Market Association (NFMA) . This organization "exists to serve the public interest and to benefit the flea market industry by fostering high standards of business conduct which merits public trust". ( http://www.fleamarkets.org/ ) Trademark Panel Discussion This annual conference is open to the owners, managers and staff of flea markets across America. The conference includes two days of educational sessions led by professionals and market representatives. We were all able to glean information useful to our businesses regarding social media,  customer relations,  advertising, networking and more. It is a  wonderful venue for us to share expertise and experiences. We can always learn from each other! Read more about the NFMA HERE Flea market lovers can also follow the NFMA facebook fan page HERE This...