Elephants Trunk

What Elephants Trunk does

Elephant's Trunk Country Flea Market is a privately held, family-owned outdoor flea market operating a single physical venue at 490 Danbury Road (Route 7) in New Milford, Connecticut. Founded in 1976 and now in its 50th anniversary season, it runs every Sunday from April through December and is positioned as the largest weekly flea market in New England, typically hosting 500+ vendors and drawing 5,000+ shoppers per Sunday. The vendor base is drawn from across the East Coast, while the buyer base spans treasure hunters, antique collectors, local farmers, foodies, up-cyclers, and small-business entrepreneurs.

The core product is the weekly Sunday marketplace itself, delivered as a traditional physical event with no proprietary technology platform, e-commerce, or shipping operations. Supporting products include standard 25x20-foot vendor spaces, a premium Advance Vendor Ticket with Express Lane access (priced $25 above the standard rate), a dedicated Food Vendor Program for self-contained mobile food trucks, and a tiered buyer admission structure (Early Buyer $20 / General Admission $4 / children under 12 free). Digital touchpoints are limited to an active Facebook and Instagram presence for weekly weather and event updates, plus Eventbrite integration for prepaid vendor ticketing.

The business model is a two-sided transaction marketplace monetized through vendor space rental fees and buyer admission fees, with no recurring subscriptions, advertising revenue, or B2B contracts disclosed. The company employs 13 people, has no outside funding, and relies on word-of-mouth, regional press (including longstanding New York Times and Travel + Leisure coverage), and earned media from multiple seasons of HGTV's Flea Market Flip to drive demand. Operations are highly dependent on weather and field conditions during the roughly 35-week annual season.

Name

Elephants Trunk

Legal name

Elephant's Trunk Flea Market

Website

https://etflea.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Elephant's Trunk is a family-owned weekly outdoor flea market in New Milford, Connecticut, founded in 1976 and now in its 50th season. It serves 500+ vendors and 5,000+ Sunday shoppers with vendor space rentals and buyer admission fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New Milford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Vendor Space Rental: Vendors pay $60 per space (2026 rate) for a 25x20 foot space to sell merchandise. Advanced tickets with Express Lane access are $75. Revenue is generated through vendor participation fees collected weekly during the operating season.
2. Buyer Admission Fees: The market generates revenue from buyer admissions: $20 for Early Buyers (5:30-6:45 AM) and $4 for General Admission (7:00 AM-2:00 PM). Children under 12 enter free.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Elephants Trunk (Elephant's Trunk Country Flea Market) operates a single-location physical flea market in New Milford, Connecticut, running every Sunday from April through December. The business rents approximately 25x20 foot vendor booth spaces to sellers, sells tiered buyer admission tickets (Early Buyer and General Admission), and offers a dedicated food vendor program for mobile food trucks and operators.

Product overview

The Elephant's Trunk Country Flea Market is a single-location, physical marketplace operating since 1976. It is not a software platform but rather a traditional outdoor retail venue offering vendor booth spaces, buyer admission tickets, and food vendor opportunities. The core product is the weekly Sunday flea market (April–December), supported by vendor space rentals, advance Express Lane ticketing, and tiered buyer admission options. The company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2026.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Weekly Flea Market

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 vendors participate weekly
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Round Top Antique Fair: The Round Top Antique Fair is a twice-yearly antiques and flea market gathering in and around Round Top, Texas, drawing thousands of vendors and tens of thousands of buyers. It is directly comparable as a destination-scale antique and flea market targeting professional dealers and serious collectors.
• Brooklyn Flea: Brooklyn Flea is a curated weekend flea market in New York City featuring vintage, antique, and artisan vendors. It is directly comparable as a physical, multi-vendor, weekend flea market targeting the same broad buyer base of collectors, foodies, and casual shoppers.
• Renninger's: Renninger's operates large multi-vendor antique and flea markets in Kutztown, Pennsylvania (and a Florida location), using a similar vendor-space rental model with regular weekly and special-event market days. It is one of the closest direct comparisons in terms of antique-heavy, multi-vendor physical marketplace format.
• Shipshewana Flea Market: Shipshewana hosts one of the largest weekly flea markets in the Midwest, with hundreds of vendors across antiques, produce, and crafts every Wednesday and Saturday. It is comparable as a large-format, vendor-rental flea market with strong food and farmer segments.
• First Monday Trade Days: First Monday Trade Days is a massive monthly open-air flea and trade market in Canton, Texas, dating back to the 1850s. It is directly comparable as a multi-vendor outdoor marketplace combining antiques, collectibles, and general merchandise with food vendors.
• Rose Bowl Flea Market: The Rose Bowl Flea Market, held the second Sunday of every month in Pasadena, California, is a long-running large-format multi-vendor flea market with antique, vintage, and collectibles focus run by RGC Shows. It competes for the same vendor/buyer ecosystem on a national scale.
• Brimfield Antique Shows: The Brimfield Antique Show is the largest recurring antiques and flea market event in the United States, held several times per year in Brimfield, Massachusetts. It is directly comparable to Elephant's Trunk as a regional New England destination draw for antique collectors and multi-vendor buyers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/221862391163607
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/elephants-trunk

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Elephants Trunk