Vendors for threatened North Hollywood Swap Meet hold protest outside landlord's home
Dozens of vendors for the popular North Hollywood Swap Meet held a demonstration Tuesday in their fight to keep the swap meet from shutting down.
The swap meet, located at 7355 Lankershim Blvd., has been running for decades but is at risk of closing because its lease agreement is set to expire at the end of March. Organizers have been unable to reach a new agreement with the landlord, who purportedly told them that the property was being redeveloped.
At the beginning of the month, vendors were reportedly given a 30-day notice to vacate.
On Tuesday morning, vendors protested outside the landlord's Hancock Park home. The longtime vendors argue that they are minority small business owners who have operated at the swap meet for decades and they want to stay.
Vendors told CBSLA that the landlord, Moshe Hager, eventually came out and met with them. He allegedly expressed willingness to allow them to stay if they agree to a rent increase and find a professional management company to run the swap meet's operations.
"To pay the bills, to pay the insurance, to pay all these things," vendor Roberto Lopez said. "It has to be somebody who knows how to run a business. Because we're just vendors. So we need somebody to run the business."
"It's good news, if we can get someone like that, then we can still work in the property," Lopez added.
It was unclear if the two sides were scheduled to hold another meeting to discuss terms.