Since its start over 60 years ago, the San Jose Berryessa Flea Market in San Jose, California, has offered an easy, affordable way for entrepreneurs to start or grow their small business. In a recent study, the City of San Jose released findings that underscore the Market’s significant economic impact on both the city and the broader Bay Area. According to the report, the Market supports over 450 businesses, employs over 1,000 workers, ranking it among the top 50 employers in San Jose. It generates approximately $9 million annually, with operating profits between $5 and $6 million and total annual sales range from $20.9 million to $42.5 million. 

A celebrated public space, Berryessa is also a cherished community hub where thousands come together for all that it offers. In addition to its regular operating hours on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, it hosts a night market, a garden, a beer garden, a food truck park, and a robust community calendar of public events that celebrate all cultures and backgrounds. 

But its success and growth have not come without challenges. In 2021, the market vendors were notified by the market site’s property owner, the Bumb family, of plans to redevelop the site into a transit-oriented development, given its adjacency to the BART station. Since then, the vendors have faced displacement without a clear path forward. Vendors hope to relocate to a City-owned landfill site, but the move is blocked by the California Surplus Land Act, which prioritizes such properties for affordable housing unless the state grants an exemption. Despite the site's ideal location and the demonstrated economic benefits of the market to the community, the exemption is unlikely. Costly environmental cleanup, combined with limited city funding, further complicates the relocation process.

In recent years, we’ve covered the advocacy work of Roberto Gonzalez Ortiz, President of the Berryessa Flea Market Vendors Association (BFVA), to explore how  Berryessa serves as an important site of cultural heritage and exchange. Kurt Wheeler, Project for Public Spaces' Market Cities Program Manager, reconnected with Roberto to see how the market and its vendors are doing today. BFVA represents and ensures the rights of over 450 vendors at the Market and supports their efforts to make a living at the market. 

Kurt Wheeler (KW): Roberto, thank you for taking the time to speak with us about Berryessa. To give our readers some background, can you tell us a bit about its history and how it has evolved over the decades to become one of the largest employers in San Jose?

RGO: La Pulga—as it is called by its Latino vendors—is a market in San Jose, CA, that is one of the largest traditional markets in the Bay Area. Since 1960, it has grown to include more than 800 shops. It is where folks can peruse miles of colorful aisles filled with great produce, collectibles, and souvenirs at bargain prices while enjoying food and music. Over the years, the Market has gone through various changes due to the development of the site—what used to be a 120-acre footprint has shrunk to 60 acres. Even with this drastic loss of space, the Market continues to be an important center for employment. Most businesses at the Market average 2.7 employees, and in total, the Market employs over 1,000 people. 

KW: In our article from 2021 about different market types that create market cities, you describe Berryessa as “literally [transporting] you to another country.” Has anything about the market experience changed in recent years?

RGO: Yes, the Market has seen change in the last couple years. As new communities have immigrated to San Jose and the wider Bay Area, there have been new vendors from the Colombian and Venezuelan communities who are starting their businesses at the Market. This has further diversified our vendors and enriched La Pulga’s cultural flair to everyone’s benefit.

KW: How would you describe the vendors at the Market? How about the Market’s customers? How do they interact with each other?

RGO: The vendors are a diverse group and not only as it relates to ethnic and cultural backgrounds. There are vendors who rent on a monthly basis, others on a weekly basis, and some only sell on a daily basis. This flexibility provides the Market with a large variety of vendors and is what makes it the biggest business incubator in the Bay Area. Market vendor demographics include people from Mexico, the United States, Vietnam and several other Latin American and Asian countries. The Market’s customers also range within these same demographics. The Market is one of the biggest attractions in San Jose welcoming nearly one million visitors each year. Many are repeat customers, including folks who have built friendships with the vendors over the years. 

KW: We’ve been following the news about Berryessa’s hopes and efforts to relocate since 2021. What have been the primary challenges of finding a site? After years of discussion and city council meetings, is there a way forward you think makes most sense? 

RGO: One of the biggest challenges has been getting full buy-in from the City and their understanding of how important it is to keep the Market operational, even throughout the development process of the site. The City has shown some support, but there is no commitment to ensure the Market will continue to exist after the site is developed into luxury apartments and office buildings. 

Another obstacle we face is that there are not many sites big enough to accommodate the size of La Pulga. With property values being extremely high in San Jose and a lack of City-owned land, this has been a daunting challenge. There is a large City-owned site, but it is a former landfill, which adds extra layers of complexity to making it the future home of La Pulga. I don’t believe there is one right way forward, but the City of San Jose has to be bold and imaginative in the process of relocating the Market. They first have to commit to saving the over 450 small businesses and over 1,000 jobs that are currently supported by the Market. There needs to be collaboration from other local agencies as well to pave the way for a new market so that it can continue to serve the community. 

KW: How has the Berryessa Flea Market Vendors Association (BFVA) been successful in advocating for the Market? Do you have any advice to share with other markets and vendor groups facing displacement?

RGO: The platform that the BFVA has created is based on the extraordinary work of market vendors who inserted themselves into a municipal process that was excluding them. The vendors spoke up in unison in support of their businesses and livelihoods. They represented one another, and the Bay Area community joined them in the fight to save a crown jewel of the city. The biggest advice I can share is to understand that information is key. Once vendors were properly informed of the development that would displace them, they took action. When we were informed of how we could make change in that process, we grew stronger. 

KW: What does the San Jose community stand to lose if La Pulga were to close? 

RGO: San Jose would lose one of the biggest community gathering places the city has. What many people at City Hall are unsuccessfully trying to recreate in other spaces is already alive at the Flea Market. It would kill one of the biggest things San Jose has going for it and something the city is recognized for. The fact that the Market does not receive the attention it deserves might be due in part to it being home to an "invisible community.” But this community place is one worth fighting for and it is why the Vendor Association continues to advocate for its survival. 

KW: We agree these community spaces are irreplaceable and absolutely worth fighting for. We will continue to follow news related to La Pulga's future, and we are wishing you all a swift and positive outcome—for the sake of the market's hundreds of vendors and the greater San Jose community.

- -

Roberto Gonzalez Ortiz works full-time as an Organizer for the Berryessa Flea Market Vendors Association. A second-generation vendor, Roberto co-founded the BFVA to advocate for the continuance of the market and to protect vendors’ livelihoods. Learn more about BFVA at thebfva.org.

‍