Kelly Township, Pa. — After more than 30 years, Silver Moon Flea Market near Lewisburg along Route 15 will be closing.
Owner Andrew Keister, whose family has run the market in its current space since 1989, said the flea market’s last day will be May 10. Keister cited a decline in vendors as a reason.
“We noticed in the last few years a decline in vendors for the flea market with the rise of the internet and Amazon to sell their wares,” Keister said. “Some of the vendors have either retired or passed away,” he added.
The flea market is held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays on a large lot in Kelly Township just off Route 15, the former site of the Silver Moon Drive-In Theatre.
Sunday blues
Keister has been running the flea market along with his sisters since his mother, Sandy Keister, retired a few years ago.
Keister added that the fact that the market has been held on Sundays also has made it difficult to get any Amish or Mennonite vendors in.
“We decided as a family to put the portion of the building on Route 15 for sale,” Keister said. The lot went for sale last year and is now under a sales agreement with a developer. Keister said he could not say what would eventually go into that spot.
The building eventually will be torn down for redevelopment. Kelly Township supervisor David Hassenplug said no plans for redevelopment have been submitted to the township yet.
What next?
The Keisters also own other lots of land along Route 15 in that vicinity. A two-acre lot was sold to Horizon Federal Credit Union, closer to the area where Walmart is. Keister expects they will build there within the next year.
As for the restaurant and antique shop at 150 Silvermoon Lane, those will remain open after the flea market closes. Keister said the Silver Moon Shop and Dine “has been doing amazing.” The restaurant eventually will move into the former banquet hall across the road.
The new space will have 8,000 square-feet as opposed to the 4,000 square-feet that it operates in now. The family has plans to enhance the restaurant in the new location by opening banquet rooms that can host events.
The Silver Moon Antique Mall will move across the road to 250 Silvermoon Lane where the Silver Moon Antique Barn is now. Keister, whose family owns all three antique buildings at the Silver Moon complex, said the antique stores “are doing great.”
There’s no timeline set yet as for when the restaurant and Silver Moon Antique Mall will move, Keister said.
Keister explained there’s also a residual area of eight acres where the flea market’s current parking lot sits. “We have plans to develop that as well. I’d like to see a shopping plaza there eventually,” Keister said.
The Keisters own more than 19 acres of land in the Silver Moon area, according to Union County parcel viewer.