Featured Destination: Detroit’s Eastern Market
If you haven’t been to Detroit’s Eastern Market lately—or ever—now’s the time to get a group together, reserve one of our deluxe 34- or 56-passenger motorcoaches, and plan a day-long shopping and dining adventure.
Each of you will need a pair of good walking shoes. Covering 43 acres and situated one mile northeast of downtown Detroit, it’s the largest historic public market district in the United States, established in 1891. Upwards of 150 food and specialty vendors sell their wares in and around five enormous sheds at Eastern Market. Surrounding the sheds are acres of food businesses, restaurants, galleries and boutiques. So, in addition to cash, checks and credit cards, everyone should also bring along a big tote bag or two.
You’ll find fresh produce, flowers, plants, meat, poultry, seafood, cheese, eggs, honey, maple syrup, mushrooms, baked goods, spices, preserves, candies, coffee, wine, craft beer, artisanal spirits, clothing, local art and craft items, ethnic and gourmet delicacies, prepared foods, and innumerable other products. This brochure will give you a good idea of the layout, as well as where the vendors are located.
The focus is on small, independent, local companies serving both retail and wholesale customers. The market is managed by the nonprofit Eastern Market Corporation on behalf of the City of Detroit.
If you need a break from shopping, dining experiences galore will await you nearby. There are a multitude of choices within walking distance, everything from pizza, deli sandwiches, and Coney dogs to fine dining with meals cooked over a wood-fire grill or served by wait staff in formal attire.
When is the Best Time to Go?
That depends on what might float your boat besides food shopping. For the latter, Eastern Market draws the biggest crowds—as many as 45,000 visitors a day—to its year-around Saturday Market during the late summer harvest. But it also operates seasonal markets on Tuesday, Sunday, and every third Thursday night from June through September. Here are detailed descriptions of each market.
You may also want to consider scheduling a charter group visit during one of Eastern Market’s special events. For example, Flower Day is a springtime tradition featuring thousands of plants for sale across 15 acres—practically every imaginable flower, succulent, bush and tree. It’s always on the Sunday after Mother’s Day, which is May 19 this year.
Or, you could time your shopping and dining extravaganza with one of Eastern Market’s cooking classes, which are conducted in partnership with edible WOW magazine. Some classes are free and open to the public in Shed 5. They feature local chefs preparing specific dishes with products provided by market vendors. Attendees can taste the finished dishes and get a recipe to take home.
Other classes are limited to about three dozen participants, cost $35 each, offer a more personalized experience with a guest chef, and include chances to win prizes such as a gift basket or dinner at the chef’s restaurant.
Yet another possibility is to coordinate your shopping trip with a Detroit Lions tailgate (details TBA at this link)—a tradition at Eastern Market—followed by a one-mile walk or bus ride to watch a home game at Ford Field. Space for one of our buses at the market tailgate would cost about $200. Between September and December this year, the Lions will play the Bears, Packers, Vikings, Cowboys, Giants, Buccaneers, Chiefs, and Chargers at home, but dates and times have yet to be announced.