After six years, Brocante Vintage Market will close by the end of the year

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - During the first month of every weekend, a vintage market right across from a St. Petersburg brewery comes alive and is bustling with busy shoppers. But those days are coming to a close.

Brocante Vintage Market in downtown St. Pete will no longer be in business by the end of 2019. Celeste and Sean Carter, the husband and wife who own the market, have full-time jobs outside of the business, and announced earlier this year that it was time to move on.

"It's real," Celeste described. "After all these months and all of these years, it's coming to an end. It's definitely bittersweet."

It takes all month to restock, but they said they have consistently sold 80 percent of their inventory when Brocante is open. They only host the market during the first weekend of every month.

If you had Brocante as a list of vintage markets to visit, you'll have to plan accordingly. There are only three opportunities left to shop: October, November and December. 

On Saturdays, they are open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Sundays, they are open from 9 a.m. to 5 pm. 

Inside the 20,000-square foot market, you'll find 50 different vendors who spend their weeks picking and compiling their wares for the monthly sale. However, what makes Brocante stand out from most vintage markets is that it doesn't feel like an antique mall -- where there are booths lined up one after the other. Instead, it looks like one giant store.

They said their visual presentation is important to them, and they found success in doing it. They would know. The Carter couple have done more than 70 markets over their years. They said part of that success is also their staff. 

"We're fortunate to have a great support staff behind us," Sean said. "We have carpenters. We have market managers. We have great vendors, and all those things work together in unison to create the cohesive market that we are so fortunate to have done."

As for the final few markets, Sean said to expect "big things."

"Celeste and I love to pick," he said. "We love to find this stuff. We love to curate it. So, it's going to be hard to not do that anymore."