Created with flickr slideshow.The Dekalb Market on Flatbush Avenue and Willoughby Street is anything but average. With the installment of 20 shipping containers last July, the once vacant lot has since transformed into a fully functioning place of business. Attracting local artists and entrepreneurs from the Brooklyn community and beyond, this Saturday, the Market hit a milestone with the addition of 20 new vendors.

But Eldon Scott, owner of Urban Spaces—a company dedicated to the economic renewal of under utilized space for retail, and community uses—likes to think of it more as an urban shopping destination, where community, sustainability and affordability collide.

“Brooklyn is full of creative people. And creating a place where people can meet and intercept is fantastic. You never know what to expect,” Scott said.

International collector and California native Sana Keefer, 30, was particularly interested in the use of containers for her first pop-up shop location. “I had read about the (Dekalb) Market online and thought this would be the perfect fit for me,” Keefer said. Inspired by the book and movie Great Expectations, Keefer’s company, Pip & Estella, sells eclectic vintage décor for the home, ranging in price from $6 antique scissors to a $400 street lamp from Boston.

Another Dekalb Market debut, the Dumpster Project, is a hodgepodge collection of trinkets and objects inside a standard size dumpster. Creator and collector, Mac Premo, 38, couldn’t tell you how it got started, but said that this was his way of telling a story that everyone could interact with. “We all have a way of defining ourselves. The way I do that is by keeping mementos,” Premo said. Equipped with a mobile site, dumpster divers are able to locate each of the 400 catalogued items within, including fallen teeth and a red skiing patch Premo saved from when he was three-years-old.

What really sets this market apart, is it’s commitment to the economic and environmental sustainability within the local community. “Everyone’s interested and excited,” Scott said. “The community has been very supportive.

Tyagi Schwartz, owner of Dog Tag Designs, a company that takes repurposed items and turns them into furniture and vintage jewelry, started as a weekend vendor who is now a permanent staple in the Dekalb Market. “This is a great Market for Brooklyn and there’s a lot of growth here,” Schwartz said. “We’re just excited about the whole thing.

For more information, or for a complete list of vendors, food and artists, visit www.dekalbmarket.com

Created with flickr slideshow.