Warsaw – Circa May 2023: Goodwill Store. Goodwill provides services that help unlock opportunities for job seekers. Credit: Getty
A LONGSTANDING indoor flea market is changing hands next month, leaving vendors scrambling on short notice.
Vendors at Long Bazaar in Forth Worth, Texas received notice in April that the space had been sold to Goodwill, forcing them to pack up their businesses.
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The bazaar is home to a variety of sellers who rent spaces from Long Bazaar Management – some of whom have been selling their handmade goods from the same space for up to 28 years.
Stalls selling everything from candy and jewelry to Quinceañera dresses attract shoppers in droves each weekend.
Locals run barbershops, beauty shops, and automotive shops, many of them familiar from sharing a space for years, and sometimes decades.
Now, those sellers are scrambling to find storage or another place to sell their goods.
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According to Norma Esparza, who operated a health and beauty shop at the bazaar for 14 years, many vendors are hoping to find a place to relocate together with a similar format as Long Bazaar, as independent storefronts are expensive and hard to find.
“If we found a place where we could all be together again, it would be much easier to let people know where we are,” Esparza said, according to the Fort Worth Report.
Some, including Leticia Grandara, who has sold artesanía Mexicana in the same space for 28 years, will sell out of their homes if they can’t find a new space soon.
Vendors must clear out their goods by May 31, as they were informed in late April.
Long Bazaar, built in 1955, covers 5.5 acres and was recently appraised at just under $4 million, according to the Tarrant Appraisal District.
A deed filed with the Tarrant Country clerk shows the property was transferred to Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth Inc. on April 17, but the purchase and sale agreement is dated December 11, 2025 – roughly four months before vendors were informed, according to the Fort Worth Report.
The former owners, listed as Nguyen Children Trust, declined to comment on the sale.
Goodwill North Central Texas, however, confirmed the acquisition to the Fort Worth Report, sharing plans to turn the 90,000-square-foot property into an outlet store, donation center, transportation hub, and job resource center.
The facility is expected to reopen in 2027 and will create approximately 70 jobs.
“This investment reflects our continued commitment to expanding access to job training and employment opportunities across Fort Worth,” said David Cox, president and CEO of Goodwill North Central Texas.
“We are proud to bring additional resources and services to this community,” he continued, according to Forth Worth Report.
Long Bazaar Management noted rising maintenance costs, including roof and air conditioning repairs, loss of commercial insurance, and difficulty operating profitably in the closure letter, according to the Forth Worth Report.
According to vendors and the letter, maintenance of the space went downhill after the death of former owner Mrs. Kim in 2018.
Her husband, Tom, took over after her passing, but didn’t keep up the building.
“There was more order when she was here,” said Esparza.
“When he took over there was more disorder.”
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