Traders Village president and general manager Ron Simmons believes that there are enormous opportunities for growth in San Antonio. This is why he’s opening a brand new Traders Village Marketplace in the city. Following a March 9 groundbreaking ceremony, construction has officially started on what will be a 290-acre market located off Loop 410 and Old Pearsall Road in San Antonio.
“In a little over a month we have just about leased up all of the locked space that we have initially planned to build,” said Clay Humphries, president of J.C. Pace & Co., the company that owns Traders Village. “It may not be long before we’re thinking about the next phase.”
It’s expected that the new market will be complete somewhere around late 2010 or early 2011. Traders Village San Antonio will join the already thriving Traders Village Grand Prairie (opened in 1973) and Traders Village Houston (opened in 1989).
The original market, Grand Prairie, was built on the former site of a cotton field, and was one of the first flea markets to utilize things like festivals and other special events to help raise awareness and promote growth. Ron Simmons himself got his start as a security guard at the Grand Prairie location in the 1970s.
Like its predecessors, Traders Village San Antonio will host a wide range of activities in coming months, such as car club events, a chili cook-off, free concerts and wood carvers shows.