'flea market king' and halifax entrepreneur bill mont dies at 96
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bill mont of halifax holds a photograph of himself as a child for a 2002 story in the chronicle herald. mont, a well known entrepreneur, died at 96.
herald file
bill mont, the “flea market king” and a man of many interests, has died at 96.
from humble beginnings in the small halifax community of greenbank, mont began working at the age of 11 in the city’s shipyards.
mont (may 21, 1929-oct. 28, 2025) then had a 17-year career at cn railway before he moved his family to california, where he purchased and operated an employment agency in anaheim.
after seven years in california, he brought his entrepreneurial skills back to nova scotia.
mont introduced successful flea markets to nova scotia, starting at the old sackville drive-in and expanding to bedford place mall, penhorn mall and the halifax forum.
bill mont seen on april 12, 2010.
tim krochak
/
the chronicle herald
online tributes poured in to honour mont and his accomplishments.
“sadly, we have lost the man that started this all. bill, you have touched so many lives and will be missed by so many! you will forever be remembered as the ‘flea market king,'” the sunday market halifax posted on facebook.
“from the first day i met you, the first year of your sackville drive-in theatre flea market, 1973, to the last time i saw you at a market only a few months ago, it was always great to chat and hear your latest ideas and some were ‘pretty original’ and entertaining. you were truly one of a kind, in the best sense of those words,” leslie knot posted on facebook.
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‘i never got to high school, so i bought one’
real estate was another one of mont’s interests. a few of his acquisitions included oland’s castle on young avenue in halifax, glenhart castle in ireland, devil’s island at the entrance to halifax harbour, the old horton high school in the annapolis valley, noonan’s beach, a portion of lawrencetown beach, an amusement park at the reversing falls in new brunswick, and the pleasant hill cemetery.
mont was known for his wit. when asked why he purchased horton high school, he said, “i never got to high school, so i bought one.”
mont had a passion for collecting, fuelled by his flea market business. in 1976, he purchased melvin s. clarke, canada’s oldest auction and real estate company, where he conducted weekly auctions. he was directly involved in the appraising, auctioning and liquidating of estates and businesses.
he was also a big fan of talk-show radio and was a frequent caller to 95.7 newsradio halifax.
“i have quite a following on the talk shows,” he said in a youtube interview earlier this year with anthony rahayel called the story of bill mont. “i get rid of a lot of my stress that way, talking about something new.”
his obituary says he appeared in over 20 movies, including titanic, hosted hobbies & collectables on a local cable tv outlet and wrote a column for the dartmouth free press newspaper.
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mont’s family was among the first lebanese immigrants to arrive in halifax. in 2024, he was honoured by the halifax lebanese society with a lifetime achievement award.
he had a great love of animals and opened the animal friends society, a no-kill shelter, in halifax that he ran for five years. donations in his memory can be made to hope for wildlife, bide awhile animal shelter and the spca.
the obituary says a celebration of life will be held at a later date.
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