Arizona Marketplace

Under the roofs at 3351 South Avenue 4 East in Yuma, more than 150 vendors lay out their goods each winter. The stock includes golfing products and scooters, clothing and antiques, metal and wood work, jewelry, cosmetics, crystals, Native American art, and artisan foods. There are bargain outlets and custom mercantile. Some stalls offer a trade: embroidery customization, upholstery, design. The market calls itself “Yuma’s Only Outdoor Covered Market” and describes its town as “the sunniest place on the planet.” Its welcome is addressed to “a Yuma local, Snow Bird, or tourist.”

The swap meet runs seasonally from November to April. The 2025–2026 season ran from November 6, 2025, to April 12, 2026, and a set of Garage Sale special events opened on the first day. Shoppers come four days a week. A 2023 news report gave those days as Thursday through Sunday. For the coming season, the market’s website says in one place that it is closed until October 30, 2026, and in another that the swap meet reopens in October 2026.

Date shakes and pro wrestling

The food vendors sell ice cream, pizza, gyros, kettle corn, burgers, date shakes, candy, and coffee. There is live music every day the market is open. On some days the owners add special events: pro wrestling, dog contests, a Santa Claus meet and greet, a Kid Zone, a Wild West Show, and comedians. The market says it offers “food and entertainment from various cultures.”

From mid-April to October the stalls stand empty, but the grounds stay in use. The market rents RV storage, Park and Sell spaces, and storage units year-round. It also books its grounds for special occasions and large gatherings.

Since 2001

Najeh Edais opened the flea market in 2001. The owners describe it as family owned. They also call it the second largest outdoor swap meet in Arizona and the largest in Yuma County. In 2023 Edais told a television reporter that the market had grown smaller over the years. That same autumn, events at a larger and older market across town changed it.

The Yuma Swap Meet had operated for more than 60 years. Its president, Bill Gresser, said it drew over 350 vendors each year and up to 10,000 people on a good weekend. Its season usually ran from November until April or May, depending on the weather. The property lay next to Border Patrol’s headquarters in Yuma. The Department of Homeland Security had been looking for some years to increase capacity for migrants in the city. It expressed interest in two properties for a new processing facility, and the swap meet grounds were one of them.

On October 4, 2023, Gresser announced that the swap meet would not open in November. The property had not been officially acquired, he said, but the sale was moving in that direction. “When we first learned that the Border Patrol was interested in acquiring the property, we were a little shocked and a little sad, but we understood,” he said. Vendors were told to collect what they had stored on site.

Armando Carrillo would have started his fifth year there. He and his brother rented a space and sold video games and anime merchandise. “It’s pretty sad, really. This is a community thing. A lot of people from town come here,” he said. “This is a big source of money for people. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck.” As vendors packed up, some said they had already arranged to sell at Arizona Marketplace. One woman noted that it was a smaller swap meet and said she hoped her customers would find her there. Gresser said the closing would not end the Yuma Swap Meet and called it “an opportunity to find a new, perhaps better location.”

Opening day, November 2023

The Arizona Marketplace opened its season on Thursday, November 2, 2023, with about 200 vendors. About 60 to 70 of them had come from the Yuma Swap Meet. By then the news report described the old market’s owners as selling the property to the federal government.

Maria Elena Machado had sold at the Yuma Swap Meet for fifteen years. “When I went to go and try to clean the place, they said no, it’s over, it’s closed,” she said. The new site was about ten minutes away, but setting up there on short notice cost money. “We have to spend money to build a place. It was hard and expensive for us,” said Maria Chavez, another vendor.

Edais said the newcomers were bringing new life to the market. “We were just so happy to accommodate them and give them what they need,” he said. “If you are out there trying to find something, most likely you will find it here.”