The U.S.’s Own Global Product Marketplace: PhoenixMart

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The global product marketplace on the scale of PhoenixMart are well known in China and Dubai; however, PhoenixMart will be the first of its kind in North America.

Every day, hundreds of thousands of people converge on the product marketplaces of China and Dubai. Manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and buyers alike gather in these enormous buildings to sell or buy the raw materials and products that keep the world turning.

These marketplaces are a necessary part of the buying process for most companies, but for many there’s one big problem: these marketplaces are an ocean away from interested parties in the U.S.

The world’s biggest market—Yiwu Market in China—sees millions of visitors a year at its 80,000 shops. The Dragonmart in Dubai has already almost tripled in size since it was founded. Currently, more than 100,000 buyers from the U.S. travel annually to these giant marts.

But between the complex matters of cultural and language barriers, long travel times, and custom issues, it was time for a solution on the home front.

PhoenixMart is that solution.

As an example, imagine that a developer is building a hotel in Las Vegas. There are thousands of products that developer needs—and not just construction materials. Uniforms, coffee, beds, carpeting, light fixtures, door knobs, and a plethora of other things must be acquired before the doors can open.

Currently, the developer has a couple of options: either fly overseas to one of their marketplaces, or research each and every item on individual websites, calling about bulk orders, colors, and finishes until they turn blue in the face.

“With PhoenixMart, the executive or buying employee can take the short trip from Vegas to Casa Grande, and within the space of a few days, that person is able to purchase literally everything they need to develop the property,” said Marshall Stahl, CEO of PhoenixMart and AZ Sourcing, the real estate development company overseeing the construction of PhoenixMart.“This is far more productive than spending weeks on the phone, or the money to send an employee abroad.”

The marketplace will consist of 1,850 showroom suites and will host meetings, major trade events, conferences, and seminars. Interested parties will have the opportunity to purchase finished goods, raw materials, and supplies from an incredible selection of domestic and international brands. The facility is the solution for businesses from around the world to reduce procurement costs for buyers and increase profits for sellers.

PhoenixMart will have a focus on four industry segments offering a distinctive concentration of products in those areas. They include: auto parts and accessories, home and hospitality, electronics and leisure, and construction and building materials.

Within those areas, the marketplace will feature hundreds of companies and thousands of products from throughout the globe.

“PhoenixMart is in the heart of the largest economy in the world,” said Stahl. “Current overseas marketplaces do not showcase North or South American manufacturers. This location will offer a more diverse tenant lineup than buyers currently see in the Asian markets.”

It’s true what they say about real estate: it all comes down to location, location, location.

Located in Casa Grande, 30 miles south of Phoenix, PhoenixMart and its 1.5 million square feet building sit on a 585-acre campus.

Casa Grande is the perfect location for PhoenixMart for a myriad of reasons. The city provides a pro-business environment with affordable resources and labor, something that Walmart recently took advantage of by building a new distribution center in the vicinity.

PhoenixMart is also strategically located near the major interstate arteries of the I-10 and I-8, the Union Pacific Railroad, and the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which was recently ranked the sixth busiest airport in the U.S.

The company keeps the interested public updated on construction through their website. Currently, the installation of 1.5 million linear feet of underground wire cabling—equivalent to 280 miles— 25,000 feet of underground plumbing, 35,000 cubic yards of concrete slab and tilt-wall panels, and over 7,000 tons of fabricated steel, have been substantially completed.

Much of the building and construction is concrete foundation and steel reinforcement. But components like the GAF membrane and the high-efficiency roof material and insulated glass are definitely a step above builder-grade.

“We’re committed to using the most current construction techniques and products. Vertical panels, clear span trusses, LED lighting, efficient transformers, and many other state-of-the-art components are slated to be used,” Stahl said. “And with our high-speed secure wireless systems and security assemblies, we’re creating a smart city environment inside PhoenixMart to support business.”

And its proposed solar program is impressive.

With 1.58 million square feet of room on the roof—the equivalent to 26 football fields—PhoenixMart has a massive expanse to create sustainable energy generation.

“Casa Grande is the perfect location for solar energy. With the enormity of the roof, we can position solar panels in any direction to get the optimum energy generation at any given time of day or year,” said Stahl.

As construction turns to masonry work on the main entrance, Stahl states that the core and the shell of the building will be completed by the end of March 2017. Currently, the team at PhoenixMart is working with a slew of qualified partners from local businesses and businesses from throughout the U.S.

From engineering consultant Twig, based out of New York to Triad Steel, Stoll Masonry, and Hardrock Concrete Placement, all based in Arizona, all of PhoenixMart’s key partners assist the construction progress with accountability, transparency, and quality.

In the next six quarters (2017 and Q1, Q2 of 2018) PhoenixMart construction installations will include exterior perimeter walls and roofing, infrastructure (water, sewer, power), parking, sidewalks, landscape finishes, roads and signage, sitework, detention and watershed assemblies and, on the interior, all partition walls, lighting, and MEP installs and tenant work letter finish outs.The project is slated to be completed and open to both buyers and sellers by mid-2018.

PhoenixMart’s clients can’t wait. Each of the 1,850 suites are offered for sale as a condominium unit or for lease.

Every suite has 600 square feet of rentable space to promote each tenant’s products, but that’s not going to be the only thing that makes clients shine.

“The most important feature of each showroom is the sales representative who will converse directly with buyers. This face-to-face interaction will provide buyers with the confidence to know they are making the right purchasing decision.

“As PhoenixMart slogan states, ‘A world-wide selection of products, offering American quality standards’.”