Friends & Family Flea, a new market from the team behind Maum Market, will make its debut Saturday in Koreatown.
For organizer Arnold Byun, the launch is something of a homecoming.
Nearly five years ago, Byun and his co-founder, Kioh Park, were living in Koreatown and spending months at Document Coffee Bar dreaming up what would eventually become Maum Market, the Asian makers market they launched in January 2022. The market now has a regular presence at ROW DTLA, where it hosts pop-up markets on Dock Street several times a year.
“The genesis of Maum Market is actually really embedded in Koreatown,” Byun, 31, told The LA Local. “And we have a lot of affection and personal history with Koreatown, so it’s a very personal thing for us just to return to our roots.”
Most of the 24 vendors participating in the first Friends & Family Flea have some connection to Koreatown, Byun said. Some grew up in the neighborhood, some still live there and others have moved away but retain ties to the area. The vendor list includes apparel brands, artists, jewelry makers, beauty and wellness businesses and food vendors.
“We’ve been trying to be pretty intentional about curating from the community as much as possible,” Byun said.
There will be plenty of food and shopping, including “sogeum-bbang,” or salt bread, tea, handmade candles, soaps and vintage clothing, as well as flash tattoos and burgers and fries from Love Hour. The LA Hwatu-Hanafuda Club will teach visitors about hwatu, the Korean deck of playing cards with roots in Japan. The club will also offer $5 tarot card readings.
Eena Cho, founder of the LA Hwatu-Hanafuda Club, was born and raised in Koreatown. She remembers living with her mother in an apartment on Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue and volunteering at the senior center near Seoul International Park, where she spent time with older Korean residents.
She also grew up playing go-stop with her grandparents during Korean holidays, like Chuseok and Seollal.
“That was a big part of my childhood,” said Cho, 24. “Another part is that living in LA where there’s so many different groups of people together, I remember my best friend Maria growing up, she was Mexican, and we would be playmates because both of our parents were working overtime.”
For Cho, joining Friends & Family Flea felt like a natural fit.
“Koreatown is a beautiful diaspora of many different cultures,” Cho said. “And I think that makes Koreatown, Koreatown.”
The local focus is a big part of what Byun hopes will distinguish Friends & Family from other flea markets and fairs. He said organizers wanted to create something that “intentionally celebrates a specific neighborhood,” in this case, Koreatown.
For the Koreatown market, that also means highlighting small businesses beyond the restaurants that often get the most attention.
“It’s more about, you know, where do we get our dry cleaning, where do we get our shoes done, or these kinds of services that I think don’t get highlighted as often as maybe restaurants do, but are really core and essential parts of a community business,” Byun said.
Byun’s own history with Koreatown also makes the neighborhood an especially fitting place to start.
His family immigrated to the South Bay from Korea in 2002, when he was 6. He remembers coming to Koreatown with his parents on the weekends for Korean meals and grocery trips.
Byun still thinks of the neighborhood as a second home for Korean immigrants, while appreciating how its community has grown more diverse.
“I’m just really happy to see it become a really beloved neighborhood,” he said.
The market is also giving back locally. Hats sold at the event will benefit the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, Byun said.
And this may not be a one-time run. If Saturday goes well, organizers hope to bring Friends & Family Flea back to Koreatown on a monthly basis. They also plan to offer discounted vendor fees to Koreatown residents.
“I feel like there was so much opportunity for us to really hone in and create something more hyperlocal and also really embed ourselves in the community as well,” Byun said.
Friends & Family Flea runs Saturday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Un-Other Space, 524 S. Western Ave. Admission is free, and organizers are asking attendees to RSVP.
