LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Vendors and their families descended on the Hancock Park address of the owner of the North Hollywood Swap Meet on Tuesday morning. The gathering was to protest the barter exchange’s impending closure.
Vendors gathered after receiving just a month’s notice to vacate their stores by the end of March, protest organizers said.
Shop owners said they may face a $600 penalty if they don’t leave by March 31. The swap meet hosts over 100 businesses, some of which have resided there for more than three decades.
“This is a contractual matter beftween private parties, a matter over which the city of Los Angeles has no direct authority,” City Councilmember Paul Krekorian, whose district includes the swap meet, said in a statement on Monday. “If the operator of the swap meet finds another location to do business in the 2nd Council District, this office will be happy to expedite the licensing and permit process.”
Business owners are seeking at least a three to six month extension to find new homes for their shops.
As of Tuesday morning, KNX learned there would be continued negotiations between vendors and swap meet ownership, though details around those talks were not immediately available.
According to public records, the owner and president of the swap meet is Caren Song Kim.
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