History
Vernaison is the historical birthplace of the Paris Saint-Ouen Flea Market because it was here, in 1920, that the first organised market was born.
At the time, Romain Vernaison, who held a concession on market pitches at the Halles de Paris, and then rented deckchairs in the parks of Paris, owned a plot of land in Saint-Ouen where he set up a series of pre-fabricated wooden huts on the area known as the "26 arpents".
The village spirit of this new market attracted bric-a-brac merchants, discount traders and, crucially, period furniture dealers. It was an overnight success.
Gradually, up until the end of World War Two, the wooden shacks were replaced by more permanent stands.