One car swap meet is still growing as the trend fades

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Car swaps and meets have a long history dating back to the fifties in some areas, but many around the Black Hills have stopped in recent years.

For those unfamiliar, car swap meets are events put together by car enthusiasts to buy, sell, or trade spare car parts. Many of these events have stopped over the years but one is still going strong and growing. The Black Hills Super Swap Meet hosted over a hundred vendors this year for their 41st annual event and plans to keep returning for the foreseeable future.

One vendor speculated that the global pandemic impacted swap and meet events in the area.

“I’ve known several in fact we don’t have any of them left that we had before. COVID wiped them all out. They just lost so much on it and lost the vendors or lost the space or whatever a lot of them never restarted them,” said Chris Garlach, a vendor at Sunday’s car swap

This was a common theory among vendors as to why the car meets slowed down. Another vendor says that some of the business may be online now.

“Everyone seems to have gone online but people love to buy in person, they want to buy in person. They’re hungry for these types of events and the fact that these types of events are still going on here in Rapid City is wonderful and they’ll always have people that will want to come and set up, absolutely,” said Jeff Alley, another vendor at the event.

Alley says that these events aren’t just about buying or selling things either.

“Oh it’s a good local community, it keeps people in touch with each other, and it’s a way for people to satisfy their collecting urge and their hobbies and to find some parts to get some old vehicles rebuilt,” said Alley.

Although the vendors are packed up and gone, the event returns to the same spot at Central States Fairgrounds every year for those looking to check out the next one.

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