Highways and buy-ways

Baby, it's hot out there, but so are the 160 miles of deals at Bargains Galore on 64

By Helaine Williams

LITTLE ROCK — Bargains Galore on 64 Today and Saturday, along U.S. 64 (888) 568-3552 bargainsgaloreon64.com

Wow. One hundred and sixty miles of nothin' but yard sales, antique/collectible vendors and flea markets.

Sounds like a bargain hunter's dream after an evening of too much spicy food, right?

No. This is real. It happens every year in Arkansas.

The ninth annual Bargains Galore on 64, which cranked up Thursday, continues alongside U.S. 64 from Fort Smith,

past Conway to Beebe. Other towns and

communities involved include Alma,

Clarksville, Altus, Ozark, Russellville,

Morrilton, Van Buren, Vilonia, Atkins,

El Paso, Menifee, Blackwell, Hartman,

Mulberry, Coal Hill, Knoxville, Plumer

ville, Dyer, Lamar, Pottsville and London.

Supported by the Ozark Advertising &

Promotion Commission, Bargains Galore

provides an opportunity for commercial

vendors, nonprofit groups, clubs, schools,

churches, civic and other organizations

in these communities to promote prod

ucts and services.

What's for sale? Everything. Antiques

are the star of the show, but Beanie Babies,

vintage items, "shabby chic" items and

jewelry are among the treasures to be

discovered.

Enhanced by a scenic environment

and friendly folks, Bargains Galore has

been designated a "Travel Treasure" by

Southern Traveler magazine and draws

everyone from family vacationers to

dealers, according to the event's Web site,

which also attributes its growth to the

various chambers of commerce and other

tourism agencies throughout the River

Valley area.

Bargains Galore is the brainchild

of Linda Hiles, a former antique-shop

proprietor and state coordinator of

the event. She remembers visiting the

127 Corridor Sale, which ran from the

Ohio state line into Alabama. The sale

stretched about 500 miles along U.S. 127.

"There were tens of thousands of peo

ple cramming the two-lane highway," she

says. "And I thought it should be possible

to have a similar event along Highway 64

in Arkansas, which has the advantage of

paralleling I-40. ... Also, there are lots of

motels and restaurants and other tour

ist services along or close to Highway

64 - many more than the 127 Corridor

seems to offer." When she first proposed the Bargains

Galore idea to the Altus Chamber of

Commerce, "they were enthusiastic about

the idea as long as I wanted to handle it."

So she contacted the other chambers of

commerce and advertising and promotion

agencies along the route. Everyone

supported the idea.

At first, Bargains Galore stretched

from Fort Smith to Conway. The addi

tional 30 miles to Beebe were added sev

eral years ago when that town expressed

interest in becoming involved.

"I think it's a wonderful event for the

state of Arkansas," says Cathi McMahan,

treasurer of the Morrilton Junktique As

sociation. "I think it does give us a lot of

recognition. [It's] a great way to kind of

show off the back roads of Arkansas andkind of get folks out and about." ECONOMIC IMPACT Hiles cites an economic impact study done by professor Robert L. Wofford of the University of the Ozarks at Clarksville in August 2004. The study found that Bargains Galore generated a "real value" of approximately $191,263 in the city of Ozark alone.

"For a community of about 3,600 people, that was certainly a significant economic boost, and a tribute to the time and effort the Ozarkians gave to the success of their part in the Bargains Galore on 64 event," she says. "Other communities with a similar number of booths and flea-market space likely have the same success." Laura McNeel, secretary-treasurer for the Vilonia Area Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates Bargains Galore for the town, first became involved with the sale as a vendor three years ago. Her family had moved to Vilonia from out ofstate. She saw a Bargains Galore sign and asked about the event. "Having just moved here, we'd just gone through packing and unpacking and we had a lot of things we could get rid of." Now, McNeel is a co-coordinator, helping the chamber sell booths to outside vendors.

"The people who are coming through" town are what McNeel says she most enjoys about the sale. "It's interesting to learn where they're from.

And its not just locals ... In previous years, we've had several people coming through from out of state."

DEALS BY THE TRAILER-LOAD Many visitors travel the entire 160 miles and pull trailers to load up with merchandise, McNeel says. "There's usually several who are always there at 6 in the morning waiting for you to set up your booth." David Lindsey, past presidentof People for a Better Atkins, is helping with Bargains Galore for the third time. Especially on the Friday of the sale, "it's almost impossible to drive up 64," Lindsey says. "You might be surprised what you find out there." Lindsey had attended the sale with his wife, driving up and down U.S. 64 to peruse the various offerings. Now he does public-relations work for the sale, putting out fliers, providing word-of-mouth advertising and notifying outside vendors of where they can find booth space. He says Bargains Galore is "another way to get our town's name out on the state level somewhere." No matter what a vendor puts out, it's likely to find a buyer at Bargains Galore.

McNeel and her family can attest. They put out a 6-foot-tall stuffed Goofy, the Disney character. "We had so many people looking at him," she says. "You could tell they really wanted to buy him" but were wondering where they would put him. Goofy eventually went to a schoolteacher who announced plans to place him in her classroom. "She thought it wouldbe fun for her seventh-graders," McNeel says.

Hiles recalls one year when quite a few visitors were looking to buy outhouses. "We try to encourage people to sell old stuff, as the antique buyers are the visitors who seem to spend the most money," she says.

Yes, it's hot outside. But, say organizers, that doesn't matter to Bargains Galore veterans and enthusiasts.

"Junkers kind of have a unique bond," McMahan says. "Those are the folks that really come out to this event in spite of the heat and the gas prices. That's what kind of pulls us all together and why we look forward to the event."

This article was published August 8, 2008 at 2:42 a.m.

Weekend, Pages 64, 65 on 08/08/2008