Rust Belt Market Courts Weekday Crowd

The Rust Belt Market in Ferndale has added weekday hours to help expose potential customers to what traditionally has been a weekend gem.

Rust Belt's "Mini-Market," which was quietly rolled out in late May, is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and offers a condensed, rotating selection of arts, crafts and vintage goods to give shoppers a taste of what's available during the weekend.

"There are so many people who can't come on the weekend or just don't know about it," said Rust Belt Market vendor Owen Strzelewicz, who runs One-39 creative. "That's been the great thing – we're now reaching those people."

The scaled-down weekday format also offers flexibility for vendors, many of whom work regular jobs during the week, he said.

Pato Margetic of Rochester Hills, who records music nearby during the week, ducked in Tuesday to check out the Mini-Market.

"The title brought me in," he said. "Rust Belt sounds cool and the outside was really cool and pretty artsy, so I thought to myself, 'What is this place?' "

Strzelewicz, who greeted Margetic and other customers Tuesday, said the Mini-Market builds on Rust Belt's momentum following a recent remodel and its place as a Metro Times Blowout venue.

"We're rolling with it and hopefully it gets busy," he said.

Rust Belt Market is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.