After months and months and months of meaning to hit the Rust Belt Market on the weekend, I finally did last Saturday (on Small Business Saturday, appropriately enough). And I have to say, it’s pretty fantastic! If you love handmade stuff and antiques sold by local vendors like I do, then this place will be heaven for you.
This is just a great place to visit if you’re trying to avoid being generic in your holiday gift-giving. Uniquely flavored handmade chocolates, one-of-a-kind jewelry, handpainted mugs, and Michigan-themed T-shirts emblazoned with quips like “Bitch, please. I’m from Detroit” are just some of the many wares featured in a space referred to on its website as a “once defunct big-box store.” It makes me so happy to know that a formerly corporately owned space is now a market for artistically-minded independent entrepreneurs.
22801 Woodward Ave.
Ferndale, MI
(Open Saturdays and Sundays, with additional dates during the holiday season, plus a small boutique open Mondays thru Fridays; check the website for specific dates and times)
100 Places in the D 