Gibraltar Trade Center
| Location | Mount Clemens, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1970s |
| Days normally open | Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays |
| Total retail floor area | 300,000 square feet |
The Gibraltar Trade Center is a giant public market in the Metro Detroit region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Mount Clemens, Michigan and was previously home to the Mount Clemens Race Track. From 1980 to 2014, there was a second location in Taylor, Michigan.
The Gibraltar Trade Center is open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout the year. Also, starting the week of Christmas, it is open every day until Christmas. Gibraltar Trade Center schedules specialized shows for the weekends. Some of the shows are the gun and knife shows, and the sports card shows.
Hundreds of small businesses call the Gibraltar Trade Center home, creating a large and diverse shopping environment. Most of the businesses are closeouts, or specialized businesses in various types of merchandise.
The Gibraltar Trade Center is one of the nation's largest indoor flea markets; the location is over 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2). In addition, some merchants set up shop outside the building, along its perimeter.
The Gibraltar Trade Center runs two sales floors equaling less than 10% of the rentable vendor spaces throughout each market. These "stores" sell everything from area rugs, western wear, biker apparel to dollar store items.
History
The Gibraltar Trade Center started as an outdoor market on Woodruff Road along the southern limits of Gibraltar, Michigan (hence the name) in the 1970s. It later relocated to a permanent location inside a former Joshua Doore warehouse on Eureka Road in Taylor in 1980, fully occupying the site by 1982. The Mount Clemens location opened in 1990. In 1993, the Taylor location doubled in size. During its 34 years in Taylor, the Gibraltar Trade Center went on to become a popular destination in the Downriver region of Metro Detroit.
The Taylor location closed permanently on November 16, 2014. The building is vacant today, although Menards is planning on opening a location on the site by late 2015.