Berkeley Flea Market<\/a>, a half-century-old fixture. He joined a friend there to sell on weekends and made up to $1,400 of extra cash. He learned how to pitch to people and convince them to buy, and when he lost his job in 1994, he decided to work at the flea market full-time.<\/p>\nA year later, Davis partnered with another friend who ran the San Pablo Flea Market. They sold their merchandise separately in the shop until his friend retired, and Davis took over.<\/p>\n
A lot of his early merchandise was Department of Defense surplus furniture and equipment from military bases that were closed in the 1990s following the end of the Cold War.<\/p>\n
Vinyl records, silver spoons, antique chairs<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Glasses-in-transparent-boxes-Davis-said-he-bought-from-UC-Berkeley.jpg\")
Among the many random collections: bins of eyeglasses. Credit: Daniel Ekonde for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
A woman carrying a box of dinnerware and glasses tells Davis, \u201cI found some things.\u201d He quickly inspects them. \u201cFive dollars for the plate,\u201d he says, referring to the largest ceramic piece.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re gonna sell it to me for more than the price?\u201d the woman asked after turning the plate and seeing a $1 label on the base.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Davis said. \u201cYou see, those prices were like 20 years ago.\u201d Davis calculates inflation and accounts for the appreciation of some items in his head.<\/p>\n
She gives in, explaining they\u2019re for her daughter\u2019s wedding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two more customers, a married couple, present a small white berry crate and two silver spoons. They also ask about a quartet of chairs they\u2019d seen in the yard. Davis says they\u2019re $80. The man explains they only need a pair. Davis insists it\u2019s a set, but two would cost $50. The couple gives up on the chairs and asks about the crate and spoons.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo dollars,\u201d Davis says.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo dollars!\u201d the woman asks in a skeptical tone. \u201cClaude, you are really a hard bargainer here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unperturbed, Davis breaks down the price. \u201cOne dollar for the crate and one dollar for the spoons.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the woman pulls out two dollar bills, Davis reassures them: \u201cMy prices are the lowest in town.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next are a couple from Richmond. The man, David, grabbed piles of vinyl records and a book, \u201cFreud\u2019s Free Clinics.\u201d A retired psychotherapist, David has known Davis for three decades and visits the San Pablo Flea Market every week looking for records.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the last remnants of places where somebody like me, who collects 78 rpm records, can go,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Items from the past, sold by a man looking forward<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A-Henkel-Harris-Lady-Astor-desk-in-the-yard-of-the-San-Pablo-Flea-Market.jpg\")
Shoppers seeking old items with character come from across the Bay Area and beyond to browse the San Pablo Flea Market\u2019s inventory. Credit: Daniel Ekonde for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
One afternoon, the shop was still closed during its normal hours. Davis had locked himself out of his pickup truck, leaving shop keys inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI only realized I\u2019d locked myself out when I\u2019d stepped out of the car. Now I\u2019m losing money,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see that building over there?\u201d He points to a new-looking 5-story structure with large rectangular windows on the other side of the road. \u201cA similar one will be here when I\u2019m unable to run this shop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forty minutes later, the locksmith arrives and liberates Davis\u2019 keys from his truck.<\/p>\n
Later, a long-time customer and friend, Tom, who is a thrift reseller at the Berkeley Flea Market, shows up looking for something to flip. He stumbles on a framed drawing of a woman, but mildew stains convince him it\u2019s not a good buy. Frustrated, he leaves without buying anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn business, you have to be patient,\u201d Davis says. \u201cI\u2019ve learnt to be patient over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next, a customer named Calvin buys an \u201cOakland\u201d hat for $5. Then he looks at a giant wooden elephant sculpture in the yard: \u201cWhat do you want for the wood you have in the corner?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t say that,\u201d Davis counters in a friendly tone, wanting him to describe the sculpture for what it is.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat big old wood,\u201d Calvin insists.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on, man,\u201d Davis groans, amusedly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Calvin makes small robots; he\u2019s looking for raw materials.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Davis\u2019 haggling has sometimes generated negative reviews.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you think of Flea Market, you would never think of this dump,\u201d one person commented on Yelp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Responding to this, Davis said he runs the shop alone and cannot be compared to another that\u2019s managed by several workers. He also shrugs off the negativity. \u201cI never read my reviews,\u201d he said. \u201cI always just continue to work and do good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryan Thomas, a fine arts professor at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, views the market as a resource library. He brings his students there regularly to find art pieces, and Davis will explain their origins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thomas enjoys \u201ctaking something found and putting it on a platform for continued conversation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d bought an antique cast-iron metal coinbox known as a \u201cstill bank,\u201d which caricatured African Americans, from Davis. \u201cI can take those items and put them next to an image of an African American jockey from the same time, and have a conversation about the power of Black representation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas describes Davis as a porch person who lets them into a world of arts and culture.<\/p>\n
Davis relishes giving context to the items he sells. A heavily-bearded street vendor had come looking for a guayabera shirt to add to his collection, and they\u2019d spent time talking about its background \u2014 how it originated in Mexico and Cuba.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That keeps Davis going, at least for now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But in a way, he\u2019s also ready to pack up. \u201cI think my legacy is bigger than this,\u201d he said one morning as he leaned on the side panel of his truck, opening a pack of tangerines lying on the truck bed.<\/p>\n
Originally from Louisiana, he graduated from Grambling State University and moved to California in the 1970s. He worked as an accountant for 15 years at Kransco, a job that enabled him to buy a house in Richmond. He has a daughter and a 27-year-old grandson who have all forged their own unique paths in life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
With no one to take over the market once he leaves, the lime-green fence, metal shed, and yard stuffed with every imaginable home furnishing are likely to disappear. Thrifters, pickers and resellers, builders, and treasure hunters will have one less place to find that special item or part for a project.<\/p>\n
Davis feels the shop has served its purpose. He won\u2019t regret shutting it down when he finally decides to retire to Richmond.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I leave,\u201d said Davis, eating a tangerine and pointing at the front of his car from the tailgate, \u201cI\u2019ll be looking in the windshield, forward, to see where I\u2019m going; I\u2019m not going to be looking at the mirror to see where I came from.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A-section-of-the-San-Pablo-Market-comprising-mainly-cupboards-and-chairs.jpg\")
The yard at the San Pablo Flea Market is a maze of chairs, tables, ottomans, file drawers, desks, shelves, and more. Credit: Daniel Ekonde for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n