Hartville Marketplace and Flea Market: Exploring the Campus with Teens

The Hartville Marketplace and Flea Market is a treasure hunter’s dream. With over 100 indoor booths and hundreds of outdoor booths spread out over 12 acres of blacktop, this northeast Ohio location truly offers something for everyone. From the fashionista, to the foodie, to the bargain shopper, there is more to this location than meets the eye and I can’t believe that I just discovered it for the first time!

Hartville Marketplace and Flea Market

The Hartville Marketplace and Flea Market began humbly in 1939 on a two acre plot of land in Hartville before moving to its current, two-story, 3-acre indoor climate controlled location. The Hartville Marketplace and Flea Market is also located on the Shop Hartville campus with Hartville Hardware, Hartville Collectibles and the Hartville Kitchen. It took my daughter and me over five hours, but we explored each and every shop and ate not once, but twice! After all, shopping is hard work and one needs to keep up their energy.

When I was invited to participate in the Discover Fall in Hartville with other northeast Ohio bloggers, I really didn’t know what to expect, but I was excited to visit the campus and check things out. My 16-year old daughter on the other hand, was not. Since she only saw “old people”- remember that’s anyone over the age of 25 to a teenager- she assumed that Hartville Marketplace couldn’t possibly appeal to her. I didn’t realize until we were on the way home that the reason we didn’t see any school age children is because schools were already in session in northeast Ohio, something I don’t always think of since we homeschool and follow our own schedule.

I thought the Marketplace was charming as soon as we stepped inside and pointed out all the “cool” décor that I was sure would appeal to my daughter. She wasn’t having any of it, but her mood did brighten when we sat down to eat breakfast at Sarah’s Grille and I allowed her to order an egg, bacon and cheese sandwich with an extra side of bacon. Good move on my part because I almost coaxed a smile out of her. Almost.  Okay. Maybe that was wishful thinking on my part.

After she’d finished her sandwich and I finished my melt-in-your-mouth biscuits smothered with sausage gravy, it was time to have a look around. We started on the second floor when my daughter spotted Vita, an upscale boutique with really trendy clothes. It was at that moment that she began to realize that maybe the Marketplace appealed to folks of all ages and not just the old ones.

Over the next three hours we made our way through each and every indoor booth as well as some of the outdoor booths and surprisingly (to my daughter) we found many items that appeal to teenagers. While I considered buying my husband and boys some chocolate or some of the gourmet food that is available, my daughter’s need for new accessories won out.

She found several items that she really liked. The dinosaur bank that was actually personalized with her name was a top contender, but in the end she happily selected a charming bracelet and masquerade mask that she plans to wear at a ball she attends each year.

By the time we left the Marketplace, my daughter’s enthusiasm for visiting this shopper’s paradise had emerged and it was full steam ahead. Surprisingly, her favorite store on the campus was the newest addition, Hartville Hardware.

Hartville Hardware

Does it seem odd to you that a 16-year old girl would love a hardware store? Well maybe, but this is not your typical hardware store. This huge space boasts a complete 1,830 square foot model home constructed of American made products!

My daughter threw herself on the lawn and couldn’t wait to nose around inside the beautiful home, and explore, she did. From the office to the mudroom with built in dog crates, to the laundry room that would make me want to do laundry, to the master bath, she explored every inch and even climbed inside the tub “just to test it to see if it was comfortable”.  The house became the highlight of the day.

We’d worked up an appetite by the time we roamed around the entire 245,000 square foot hardware store so vowing to return with the men in our family, we made our way to the Hartville Kitchen next door to see what all the fuss over the Fresh Peach Pie was about.

Hartville Kitchen

We arrived about the same time that everyone else in the area decided they were hungry so I was prepared to wait a long time. To my surprise we were seated pretty quickly and waited on right away. Chicken is their specialty at the Hartville Kitchen but the open faced Roast Beef Sandwich caught my eye. My daughter happily ordered a Taco Salad and by this time was more than content to have been forced to tag along with me. Our home style food arrived quickly with plenty of refills for our water glasses. And though I was pretty full after eating what was a pretty large meal, I decided that I really couldn’t pass up a slice of that pie and I’m glad I didn’t. It was delicious.

Hartville Collectibles

Our final stop of the day was to Hartville Collectibles. This collectible store offered much more than Precious Moments and Willow Tree figures. Inside the walls you’ll find upscale boutique items such as Vera Bradley, Brighten and Pandora. I loved the oversize travel totes in Vera Bradley and the travel charms offered by Pandora and while I contemplated picking up a couple Tervis tumblers or the super soft Life is Good t-shirts, I opted to select a couple scarves for my daughter and I to share from the best assortment of scarves that I’ve seen.

This may have been my first visit to the Hartville Marketplace and surrounding complex, but it certainly won’t be my last. I’m already trying to figure out how soon I can coax my husband into a visit. When we decide to head back to Hartville, you can be sure that my daughter will be with me. And next time around, she’d like to take a friend.

Now for something very exciting. I’ve teamed up with other bloggers to offer an incredible giveaway that offers gift certificates to the places I’ve mentioned in this post and more. Want to check it out? You can  learn more about the giveaway in this post.

Have you shopped Hartville Campus? Why do you think you’d really like to shop here?

Disclaimer: I did receive incentives and meals to order to facilitate my review of the property. All opinions are my own.