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One Man's Junk Branches Off Facebook To Swap Meet

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. -- Gaston County’s junk will be up for grabs to top bidders and barterers Saturday.

One Man’s Junk, a popular Facebook group, will host its first local, face-to-face gathering — a Swap and Meet.

The online group’s creator, Bill Guyther, said he hopes locals will come out, find bargains and do some networking. There should be no shortage of deals, he said.

There should be “everything from knickknacks to the kitchen sink,” he said.

While this will be an inaugural event for Gaston County, it isn’t Guyther’s first rodeo. He hosted OMJ’s first offline event in Stanly County, an area that has embraced the Facebook group.

Stanly County saw about 70 vendors set up shop to swap and sell goodies in June.

Gaston County’s event so far has 30 vendors signed up. Booths will be open from 7 a.m. to noon on the property of Piccolo’s Antique Mall on Main Street in Belmont.

While Gaston and Stanly will be the only counties to have experienced the face-to-face One Man’s Junk sale, the online phenomenon has swept North Carolina and several areas across the U.S., according to Guyther.

Guyther of Lowell created the groups when he wanted to take in a dog in need of a home.

He started shopping around online.

Craigslist does not allow animals to be posted under giveaway items, said Guyther, and Facebook didn’t have a good venue for trading, selling or giving away goods.

So Guyther started One Man’s Junk in Gaston County.

Next thing Guyther knew, his page was gaining members and getting requests for similar sites in other counties in North Carolina.

“Obviously, it took off because there’s a need for it,” he said.

In response to the interest, Guyther soon added OMJ groups for Stanly, Mecklenburg, Catawba, Pitt and Dare counties.

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