Swap Shop

What Swap Shop does

Swap Shop is a privately held, multi-attraction retail and entertainment venue located on an 88-acre property at 3291 West Sunrise Boulevard in Lauderhill, Florida, within the Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area. Founded by Preston Henn in the 1960s, the company operates the largest flea market in the region, featuring over 1,000 vendors selling diverse merchandise, complemented by a drive-in movie theater, a vintage car collection, and an on-site fresh produce section. The venue operates 365 days a year including Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day, with building hours ranging from 8AM to 5PM depending on the day. The site has no disclosed digital platform, mobile app, e-commerce channel, or AI capability beyond an informational Wix-hosted website.

The business generates revenue primarily through vendor space rentals across two models: daily vendor passes priced from $10 (Monday/Wednesday) to $50 (Sunday) with tiered pricing by day-of-week, and permanent space leases for indoor (from $743/month), canopy ($300-$375/month), and container ($150-$480/month) locations with varying deposit ($500-$2,000) and operating requirements. Secondary revenue streams include drive-in theater admissions and fresh produce sales. Vendor participation is governed by formal compliance requirements including a $500 deposit, $125 one-time electric hook-up fee, monthly utility and security fees ($50 and $10 respectively), and a strict policy against counterfeit merchandise and designer brands. Permanent tenants must hold an occupational license issued through Broward County or the City of Lauderhill.

The customer base is dual-sided and fragmented: individual consumers seeking bargain shopping, fresh produce, and drive-in entertainment, and small vendors and retailers seeking affordable retail space with high foot traffic. Marketing is conducted almost exclusively through physical presence and word-of-mouth, with no disclosed digital marketing channels. The ownership structure appears to be independent and privately managed following the founder, who is memorialized on the company's About Us page; no parent company, institutional investors, or private equity ownership is disclosed. There are no reported funding rounds, acquisitions, partnerships, or expansion into new geographies in the available source material.

Name

Swap Shop

Legal name

Swap Shop

Website

https://floridaswapshop.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Swap Shop is a privately held Fort Lauderdale flea market operator running an 88-acre open-air venue with 1,000+ vendors, a drive-in movie theater, vintage car collection, and fresh produce section, open 365 days a year and serving bargain-seeking consumers and small retail vendors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Flea Market

SIC

Retail-Variety Stores (5331), Retail-Misc General Merchandise Stores (5399)

akta.pro primary industry

Import & Bazaar-Style Variety Stores (CRAEAGAD)

Keywords

• Flea market operations
• Vendor space rental
• Drive-in theater
• Outdoor swap meet
• Physical retail marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Lauderhill

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Vendor Space Rentals: Daily vendor fees ranging from $10 to $50 depending on the day of the week, and permanent monthly rental spaces ranging from $150 to $743+. This is the primary revenue stream.
2. Permanent Vendor Leasing: Monthly rental contracts for indoor spaces, canopy spaces, and storage containers with varying rates and deposits.
3. Drive-In Theater: Revenue generated from the drive-in movie theater operation.
4. Fresh Produce Sales: On-site fresh produce section generating revenue from food sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Swap Shop operates an 88-acre outdoor flea market in Lauderhill, Florida, hosting more than 1,000 vendor stalls and operating 365 days a year. The site bundles a drive-in movie theater, a classic car collection display, and fresh produce stands with the flea market to create a single destination venue. Vendor spaces are made available on both daily and permanent (indoor/outdoor canopy, container, and parking) lease terms.

Product overview

Florida Swap Shop is a traditional physical retail and entertainment venue offering a unified experience centered on its 88-acre open-air flea market. The business operates as a multi-product venue combining: a large flea market with over 1,000 rotating and permanent vendors, a classic drive-in movie theater, a car collection display, and fresh produce sales. Vendor participation is facilitated through two models: daily vendor tickets (ranging $10-$50/day depending on the day) and permanent space rentals (indoor, canopy, and container spaces with monthly rates from $150-$743+). The venue is open 365 days a year and does not appear to operate any technology platform, app, or digital services beyond its informational website.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 88 Acre Flea Market

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Five Below: National value retail chain headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, selling a wide assortment of general merchandise at low price points. Comparable to Swap Shop in serving bargain-oriented shoppers across varied product categories, but through a single-operator store model.
• Big Lots: National closeout and discount retailer headquartered in Columbus, OH, selling surplus and overstock general merchandise at value prices. Comparable to Swap Shop as a value-oriented retail destination but operating through a chain store model rather than a multi-vendor marketplace.

Direct peers

• Brimfield Antique Show & Flea Market: Iconic multi-day antique and flea market held multiple times per year in Brimfield, Massachusetts. Comparable to Swap Shop as a large-scale vendor marketplace attracting bargain hunters, antique buyers, and small sellers from across the region.
• Rose Bowl Flea Market: One of the largest and most famous flea markets in the United States, held at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, CA. Operates as a high-volume vendor marketplace with thousands of sellers, directly comparable to Swap Shop's 1,000+ vendor aggregation model and bargain-shopper demographic.
• Renninger's Flea Market: Long-established multi-vendor flea market in Adamstown, Pennsylvania, combining permanent vendor spaces with periodic antique events. Operates a similar dual model of permanent tenant and rotating day-vendor rentals as Swap Shop.
• Canton First Monday Trade Days: One of the oldest and largest flea markets in the United States, held monthly in Canton, Texas. Comparable to Swap Shop as a high-density vendor marketplace with thousands of sellers and bargain-driven shopper traffic.
• Round Top Antiques Fair: Massive semi-annual antiques and flea market event in Round Top, Texas, drawing thousands of vendors and shoppers from across the country. Directly comparable to Swap Shop's scale of vendor aggregation and bargain-shopper appeal.

Others

• Simon Property Group: Largest retail real estate operator in the US, headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, managing shopping centers, outlet malls, and large retail destinations. Comparable to Swap Shop as a landlord-operator of large-scale retail destinations, though focused on enclosed mall formats rather than open-air vendor marketplaces.
• Cinemark Theatres: Major movie theater operator headquartered in Plano, TX, operating multiplex and select drive-in locations. Comparable to Swap Shop's drive-in theater component as an established cinema operator, though with a fundamentally different scale and focus on indoor multiplexes.

Emerging players

• Etsy: Online marketplace headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, enabling individual sellers and small vendors to reach buyers of handmade, vintage, and unique goods. Thematically comparable to Swap Shop as a venue for individual small vendors to access shoppers, but operating as a digital platform rather than physical marketplace.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/floridaswapshop

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Swap Shop