Our Story

In June 2011, Family Furniture of Meridian, Inc opened its doors originally as a family-owned and operated furniture store here in Meridian, MS in a warehouse complex built as a tobacco warehouse in 1952 & 1953, turned into a skating rink early 1960’s, a furniture wholesale warehouse late 1960’s then a furniture distribution center until April 2011. Family Furniture was the brainchild of Sissy & Garry Ellsworth, Matt Ellsworth, and Andy Thomas. For the first time in our lives, three of us were looking for a change in our jobs / career paths. Garry was a 30-year Retired Air Force & Air National Guard Veteran while Sissy and Matt had a background in retail furniture and wholesale furniture distribution respectively. We decided a family-owned furniture store was the perfect thing for us but in a shifting economy and as the months started to fly by, we decided that we needed to expand our offerings to our community. We had three large buildings with one of them almost completely empty, but not for long - Family Flea Market was born!

Best decision ever – we absolutely love our Family Flea Market! The customers are so much fun, and our vendors help make everything happen. We have over 200 vendors that set up spaces or consignment pieces for sale in our market. When we say “vendors” we are not referring to big corporations but individuals like your friends, family, and neighbors who wanted a little extra income or a self-sustaining business or “hobby” in their retirement years. When you shop local at OUR Family Flea Market you are helping over 200 different families live their day to day dreams.

We teach our employees – our adopted family – that the most important people are our customers! Second are our over 200 vendors and last are all of us. It takes all these unique people and personalities to make this business work. The hours are long and with 52,000 square feet of retail space its lots of building to cover, but the people are great and make it all worth it. Generally, you will find at least one or more owners on-site as well as plenty of help both in sales and loading, so always feel free to ask questions, for help or recommendations – we all LOVE to talk!

We have a large customer following and we tend to know your names - some we see several times a week while others are weekly or monthly visitors. We sell new and used items and some essentials, so our regular customers stop in to buy things they need to replace rather than shop somewhere else. We are community oriented, as some of us have lived in the Meridian area over 45 years. We quietly support several outreach programs in our area and work with as many agencies as we can. We look forward to each day not knowing who we will see and what great items our vendors will bring in. Every day there is something new! So please stop by and shop local!