CLEVELAND, Ohio -- After scaling back to four markets last year, the Cleveland Flea won’t host any of its trademark markets in 2020.

Since 2013, the wildly popular Flea has been a Cleveland staple, flooding social media and bringing tens of thousands of people downtown to sell their wares, shop for unique finds and eat local foods. The event shifted venues as it grew, landing in Cleveland’s AsiaTown neighborhood for an event each month.

Founder Stephanie Sheldon said the Flea is taking a break, during which she’ll work on two new projects and reimagine the Flea to address the changing needs of small businesses and the logistical challenges of running such a large event.

“Truly what ends up taking precedent is the safety of a ton of people," she said. "In order to not really shortchange vendors or the public and (make sure) nothing terrible happens under our watch, it makes most sense to be able to take this really seriously and dive into the bigger solution.”

Sheldon said when she started the markets in 2013, she didn’t foresee they would grow as quickly as they did.

“I really thought 1,000 or 2,000 people at max would ever show up. Then I was put into this position within the first three months of my business that 10,000 people would show up. You can’t ignore that.”

The Flea team, which last year consisted of three full-time employees, tried to address problems by scaling back to seasonal markets. But the demands of running the markets were still too high.

Having a year to plan will allow Sheldon to smooth out the kinks and to restructure the flea to better address what people want, she said. She thinks a solution could be tech-based, like creating an app for vendors to manage their flea experience and communicate with one another. That app that could then be used at other markets across the country.

What will happen next is still up in the air. Sheldon anticipates a 2021 return for the markets, but will need to figure out the specifics.

Some future plans could include finding a team who wants to take the event over, shifting the event into a nonprofit or renaming it to better reflect on what happens at the markets and set expectations.

“When Cleveland is in the name, people show up thinking, ‘This is for me,'” she said. “I think what Cleveland doesn’t understand about itself sometimes, is that that term Cleveland isn’t the same for everybody. If you show up, you might want the Flea to be able vintage shopping. If your mom shows up, she might want it to be about nostalgia. If your dad shows up, he might want it to be about Browns T-shirts.”

(Allison Carey/The Plain Dealer)The Plain Dealer

On Facebook this week, Sheldon asked what people wanted at the markets, but the post devolved into heated conversations. First, Sheldon posted community guidelines for posting on the page. As of Friday, the Flea Facebook page is unavailable.

“It’s not that I can’t take criticism or I don’t want to hear it,” Sheldon said. “Is the net result that we want to make Cleveland a better city or is the net result that you want to make me feel bad?”

Along with reimagining the Cleveland Flea and its future, Sheldon recently launched the “Brave Business Club,” which offers coaching services for aspiring entrepreneurs. For a $99 monthly fee (or $499 annually), members can access classes, group coaching, in-person events and a “tool-kit” to help build a business.

Sheldon’s other project is called “Kind Cleveland," and aims to provide people with feel-good, compassionate stories via social media and a future, free newsletter. She hopes that it will inspire a sense of community and one day could become a nonprofit.

“I’m so in love with the idea of having conversations that feel good to me that it gives me energy back. I would like to be an example of what is possible in a city in Cleveland.”