After decades in operation, another area business is closing its doors. But this time, it is internet sales to blame, not the pandemic.

The announcement last week that Limestone Flea Market on U.S. 72 was closing came as an upsetting surprise to many of its vendors and customers. The 80,000-square-foot shopping center made the announcement via Facebook on April 15, closing to the public immediately and allowing vendors until May 1 to clear their belongings.

“It’s a lot of heartbreak and devastation,” Julie McMahon, the market’s manager, told The News Courier. “… From a business standpoint, I understand why the owners (of the flea market) did what they had to do, but from a personal standpoint, it’s heartbreaking.”

McMahon said the flea market’s customer base has grown smaller and smaller since internet companies like Amazon joined the retail scene. Over the last two years, the flea market was losing thousands of dollars per month.

“When customers aren’t spending money, the vendors can’t pay rent, and then the flea market can’t pay the bills,” she said. “Once the coronavirus hit, it was just a nail in the coffin for us.”

Gabriel Garcia, owner of Retro Alabama Game Exchange, sells video games and offers disc or system repairs. He called the decision to close the market “bull.”

“I’ve been coming out here for nine years, and I was given two weeks to get my crap and get out?” he said. “… It’s a lot to deal with in a two-week time period.”

Like many vendors, Garcia now faces not only the loss of income but the new costs of storing his inventory and setting up an alternate location. He said he had to bring in a business partner for the first time, but he’s grateful for the support of his customers and friends of the business who are helping him arrange for a brick-and-mortar store.

McMahon said other vendors have also opened in alternate locations. Butterfly Consignment opened earlier this year in the log cabin next to the flea market and lists five featured vendors on its Facebook page — Lisa’s Soy Candles and Pipe Emporium, Ruth Ann’s Fashions, Practical Magick New Age Shop, Angelic Light Energies and Jay the Tag Guy for those who enjoy sports and Hot Wheels.

Another vendor, Collectors World, will open in Rogersville. The shop is marketed as the area’s largest buyer of vintage collectibles, with a focus on sports cards and comics.

Still, not every vendor is able to work elsewhere. McMahon said Carolyn Spencer of Carolyn’s Homemade Cakes and Pies will be taking orders at home instead of bringing her previously baked goods to a booth. Ruth Zander, who sold Avon at the flea market for 25 years, also said she’ll be operating from home.

Zander told The News Courier her biggest issue is storing her inventory in the meantime. She said customers enjoyed being able to see and hold an Avon product before buying it, but now she’s stuck with a lot of unsold product.

“I got a storage building over next door to the flea market, and what I don’t sell, I’m going to put in storage,” she said.

By this time next year, she’ll have the option of renting a storage unit in the same place she once rented a vendor booth. McMahon said construction is already underway to turn the flea market building into an indoor storage facility. She expects it will be complete within seven or eight months.

She’ll be staying on to manage the storage facility, but she said it hasn’t stopped her from being equally heartbroken by the loss of her flea market family. McMahon spent six years as the owner and operator of the Fandom Galaxies booth before taking over as manager of the flea market.

“I’ve known a lot of these vendors over the last decade, and we’ve grown to be a family. It hurts to say goodbye,” she said. “Everyone looked out for each other and kept an eye out for shoplifters. If someone was sick, someone would open their booth and sell for them. We were family here.”

She said she’ll also miss the annual community events, like hosting Santa Claus or Halloween for area children, school supply drives for East Limestone High and fundraisers for local veteran organizations.

“She loved what she did and she loved the people,” Garcia said of McMahon. “She loved being able to help these people and help everybody. She is a very selfless person.”

Customers can visit the Limestone Flea Market page on Facebook and find contact information for the vendors mentioned above and others who operated at the market.