FAIRFIELD COUNTY, S.C. — The Big Grab 50-Mile Yard Sale is happening on Friday, Sep. 10 and Saturday, Sep 11. The annual two-day event spans through the Blythewood, Ridgeway, and Winnsboro communities.
"There's so much," said Anthony Haney, first-time shopper. "Like, I guess my wife told me about it, and I was thinking — I was like 'okay, a few people here and there down the road,' I wasn't thinking anything like this. I think it's really neat, it's cool to come out and see all the different stuff you can get."
This is the 10th annual 50 Mile Yard sale, which draws over 20 thousand people from all around the country to Fairfield County.
"So, basically we have 500 vendors that are set-up, up and down these streets that are selling all types of stuff," said Gene Stephens, President of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce.
Stephens said this event is a big boost for small businesses in the community, especially after the financial toll caused by the pandemic.
"You have 20,000 people coming through, they're looking for food, so it brings people into the restaurants, it brings people into our small businesses," Stephens said.
Owner of Blythewood Consignment, Liz McHumphries said she see's a huge increase in customers during the event.
"It's my busiest two days of the whole year, this Friday and Saturday," Humphries said. "Last year, I checked out over 400 people."
Humphries said she has seen people come from all over the Palmetto state and other states for this event.
"I have a board in front of my store for people to write down their zip code from where they are from," Humphries said. "I know one year, we had people from Utah that actually flew into this area, they had family here that went shopping. I've got family coming from Florida, I've had family coming from Chicago. It's just amazing, people come from all over, there's a whole culture out there of people that look for these types of sales and go all over the United States for them, and it's amazing."
Stephens said he has seen more people from outside the community come than community members themselves.
Theresa McKenrick is the owner of Postmark 29206. She said she has been a part of this event for six years and each year, the yard sale has been her busiest weekend of the year.
"This is a real big boost for our local economy and it's a good place to move maybe some items that haven't moved well in one of my shops," McKenrick said. "It's a good time to liquidate, it's a good time for buyers and sellers. There's a lot of walkability in all of the three towns, and I highly recommend it as an event for folks to just get out and enjoy the weather."
The event runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, and will restart on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.