The Opa-locka flea market with the unforgettable jingle is closing for good
The catchy, kitschy jingle of the Opa-locka Hialeah Flea Market lives in the memory of a generation of South Floridians — and soon, too, will the market itself.
After more than 40 years in business, the market will close for good, an employee confirmed to the Miami Herald. The flea market was purchased by New York-based group Gramercy Property Trust in 2017, WPLG-10 reported. The last day to shop will be June 30.
The Opa-locka Hialeah Flea Market has served for decades as a sort of trading post, east of Hialeah’s Amelia Earhart Park and just south of the Miami Opa-Locka Executive Airport.
It has for years been a sort of tent city, where you could find everything from inexpensive clothing immigrants bought to send back to family, to a music venue for local artists. You could find boxing and wrestling matches, soca and reggae festival and foam parties. And families shopping on a budget could find used furniture, a butcher shop, used tires even a dentist right on site. At its height, it housed more than 700 vendors every weekend, according to Herald archives.
But perhaps the market’s most famous and lasting effect on pop culture was an earworm.
Its 30-second jingle, complete with synthesizer, horns and earnest lyrics dovetailed into perfectly-’80s video wipes straight out of “Que Pasa, USA?” And those who have heard the tune are no doubt humming it to themselves this moment with nostalgia.
This story was originally published May 23, 2022 at 3:16 PM.
