The Caribbean Camera heard that the Active Marketplace is closing so we spoke to the owner Zahid Malik about what we heard the interview went like this.

Caribbean Camera: “We understand that people are saying that active Marketplace will be closing soon. Is there any truth to that?”

Zahid Malik: “Absolutely not! We bought this building to set up another electronic outlet, but about 25 or 30 vendors came to me and they said that they had been displaced when the Pickering Flea market closed suddenly without notice. They asked if we would consider opening up a flea market at this location so that they could be close enough to Toronto and Pickering, where most of the people came from to shop. My partner and I discussed it and we decided OK, we can open the flea market and we will carry some of our electronics in the market as well.

“We are not just in the electronic business, we are also in the real estate business, and that is why I bought this building. It’s a great investment and it has provided me a way to help people build their businesses. I’m really excited about that; as the owner and operator of the flea market this gives me an opportunity to plan long-term.

“We have six buildings in our portfolio; Active Marketplace is the smallest building that we own and it’s the first time we’ve ventured outside of Toronto; but I like what I see in Ajax and I’m looking at other buildings to develop in Ajax. I like the community. I love the vendors and I know that we can grow something that would be amazing in this area.

CC: Do you know who started the rumours about the market closing?

ZM: “I don’t know. All I can say is that we just recently opened another flea market in Durham but far away from Toronto. We are not really concerned about what they do, we are concerned about developing our vendors and making sure that our vendors do well because our vendors must succeed. We have a great opportunity to help small business people develop.

“You know when the vendors came here and spoke to me, they asked if they could have a monthly rent because they were paying rent by the week prior to coming here. So some months they would have 4 weeks and other months that have 5 weeks so at $200 per week that means you paid $800 one month another $1,000.00; that’s not very good for you to plan, that’s why our rents start at $600 a month based on a 10′ X 10′ unit.

The rumours do not bother me, what bothers me is that somebody would stoop that low in order to get some weak people nervous.