Midway Rising has been approved and is moving forward. As the Sports Arena property enters its next chapter, we ask the City of San Diego to help ensure that Kobey’s Swap Meet—and the people who depend on it—has a future, too.

We support redevelopment. We are not asking the City to stop Midway Rising. We are asking for a practical path forward for Kobey’s.

A San Diego institution built over generations;

Monte Kobey, founded Kobey’s in 1976. Since August 1980, we have operated continuously at the San Diego Sports Arena—46 years as a tenant, bringing vendors, shoppers and economic activity to the property every weekend.

Over four decades, Kobey’s has welcomed more than 40 million shoppers and provided thousands of independent vendors with an accessible place to start businesses, earn income and support their families.

Today, we employ approximately 45 people, and more than 1,000 sellers participate across a typical weekend. Kobey’s provides affordable shopping, gives secondhand goods new life and has helped hundreds of nonprofit organizations raise funds for their missions.

We are a third-generation family business led by President Kimberly Kobey Pretto and her son, Vice President of Operations Anthony Pretto. Kimberly’s late husband and Anthony’s father, Charles J. Pretto, devoted decades to our operation before passing away from leukemia in January 2024.

Anthony hopes his identical twin daughters, Sofia and Isabella, will one day have the opportunity to become the fourth generation carrying the Kobey’s legacy forward.

But this is about more than the Kobey family. It is about the employees, vendors, shoppers and local businesses that make Kobey’s a San Diego institution.

Kobey’s is not closing—but we need to plan ahead.

We are working with Sports Arena management to finalize a short-term interim lease so we can continue operating. At the same time, we need to address what happens as redevelopment and construction move forward.

Kobey's depends on sufficient vendor space, customer parking, reliable access, essential operating facilities and the ability to collect admission. These needs are interconnected and necessary to sustain a viable swap meet.

Based on the proposed redevelopment layout, we do not believe the completed project provides the conditions our current operation requires. Construction could also create significant challenges before the project is finished.

A small market within a park or plaza would not preserve Kobey’s at the scale necessary to support the vendors and shoppers who depend on it.

We have participated in preliminary discussions with the developer and appreciate those conversations. We now need direct collaboration with the City to help turn those discussions into a practical plan for Kobey’s future.

What we are asking:

We respectfully ask the City of San Diego, working with Kobey’s, Sports Arena management and the Midway Rising team, to -

• Meet directly with Kobey’s to discuss our future and the needs of our employees, vendors and shoppers.
• Establish a practical plan for continued operations during construction, addressing vendor space, parking, access, admission, equipment storage and essential operating facilities.
• Evaluate whether a viable, long-term Kobey’s operation can be accommodated within the completed development.
• If Kobey’s cannot remain viable at Midway, help identify and evaluate a suitable replacement location within the City of San Diego.

We are not asking for a guaranteed site or an exemption from applicable requirements. We are asking for meaningful collaboration and an opportunity to preserve what generations of San Diegans have helped build.

Progress and redevelopment should not mean allowing a San Diego institution to disappear.

Show your support for Kobey’s future;

Help us encourage the City of San Diego to work with Kobey’s on a practical plan for our future—at Midway or another suitable location within San Diego.

Share this campaign, tell us what Kobey’s means to you and help bring attention to the employees, vendors and shoppers who depend on it.

Give Kobey’s a seat at the table—and an opportunity to remain part of San Diego’s future.

For inquiries:
Anthony Pretto
Vice President of Operations
Kobey’s Swap Meet
apretto@kobeys.com