Missoula Valley Winter Market finds new digs at Southgate Mall

(KPAX) The Missoula Valley Winter Market has found a new home after spending its first six years at the Missoula Senior Center in downtown Missoula.

The vacated Lucky’s Market at Southgate Mall will provide the space the market needs - both inside and out.

“We’ve slowly been building momentum and getting bigger, so we’re always looking for a bigger space. It’s a central location, one thing we’re really happy about is the parking. That’s always kind of been an issue being in the downtown area," Missoula Valley Winter Market manager Franco Salazar said.

Salazar said the timing of the move couldn’t be better, as they’ve had more interest than ever from vendors.

With five weeks until the November 14 opening date, the number of vendors has jumped from 40 to 60. Salazar says shoppers will be able to find a little bit of everything,

“We not only have the farm products and the food, we also have the arts and the crafts, and it’s all under one roof. It seems to work really well for the holiday season,” he said.

Southgate Mall General Manager Tim Winger said the Missoula Valley Winter Market is a perfect fit.

“It’s going to be symbiotic because we’re going to get a push of traffic on Saturday mornings which we’re really excited about, so I think it’s you know the classic win-win for both of us,” Winger said.

With 32,000 square feet to offer, Winger said both vendors and shoppers should have plenty of space to move around and maintain social distancing.

"They’re going to be able to be spread out which is important during COVID and all that,” he said.