Bruin Flea, a flea market co-hosted by students and local community members, made its Westwood debut on Broxton Avenue on Friday.

The monthly market, which began holding events in 2022, featured food trucks, music and booths from various businesses and local vendors. Some of the small businesses at the event were student-owned, such as music label Cherry Pop Records, while others such as jeweler Lunita Crystal Magic and vintage clothing seller Sisterhood Threads were businesses based throughout Westwood and Los Angeles.

Event director Luis Lopez said community-building was the main drive for the market. Lopez, who graduated from UCLA in June, said he came up with the idea for Bruin Flea last fall when he was a member of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.

“We were sitting on the couch, and I was like, ‘I wanted to do something for the community,'” Lopez said. “We said, … ‘Why don’t we do a flea market?’ We should do something that brings people around, brings in small businesses and … we use this platform to amplify others.”

The flea market’s first iteration was held at the Delta Sigma fraternity house, he said, adding that he immediately realized the format of a market was perfect for his community-building goal.

“We had an amazing turnout. I thought – wow, this is something people really, really want to see,’” Lopez said. “We get to meet people, have their friends and platforms actually be here, and so small businesses were loving it.”

Lopez hosted the event multiple times at the fraternity house and later at Kerckhoff Hall before obtaining a city permit and permission to bring Bruin Flea to Westwood.

Chloe Gonzales, owner of homemade clothes and jewelry company Thieves Collective, said she heard about Bruin Flea through social media and decided to apply as a vendor on the Bruin Flea website.

Gonzales, who is also a third-year psychobiology and sociology student, said setting up for the event was simple.

“Setup was pretty easy. … Once we got in and settled, it was all good, and it’s nice seeing the diversity of the people here,” Gonzales said. “When you see a lot of the vendors on Bruin Plaza, it’s very student-oriented, but here it’s a lot more of a community aspect.”

Lopez said the market will be donating about a third of the proceeds to various philanthropic organizations each month. For the October market, proceeds were donated to Bruin Shelter, an undergraduate organization that runs a shelter for students experiencing homelessness in the LA area.

Kristin Berry, a third-year international development studies student who attended the market, said Bruin Flea made her feel connected to the Westwood community.

“It’s so nice to find that community-building aspect and students that are like-minded to you but that you might not meet in a regular situation on campus,” Berry said.