Dozens of vendors, who for decades worked at the popular “Swap Meet” market in the alpine village of Torrance, protested on Tuesday in a last-ditch attempt to stop the closure.
Some sellers say there has been little transparency about who bought the area, for what purposes, and that sellers have had too little time to find a solution.
“Here, we sellers were selling our things, our things, now it’s an empty valley,” says one of the sellers.
And that’s why representatives of about 300 families who depended on their sales at the historic Alpine Village “Swap Meet” protested on Tuesday.
“I want to say to the owners, I don’t know who you are, but look what they did, a company threw 300 families on the sidewalk and I don’t think any of you had the courage to do it,” said Estela Nevares, a vendor at the market.
“They take your bread inopportunely, in 15 days they throw us out, without explanation”, says another seller.
Vendors say they only received a letter saying the market would no longer reopen.
Although Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell has requested information from the company that apparently acquired the land, there appears to be no turning back.
“They didn’t want to give an explanation, what happened?” said Alejandro Alfaro, another salesman.
Many of those who survived here are already elderly people for whom it will be difficult to find another means of support.
“For us, going to find work elsewhere is more difficult, because we are no longer able to do the jobs that young people of 20 or 25 do,” Alfaro said.
And the closure of the market, they say, will also have an impact on the whole community. “People also come for a walk, the children of some of my customers were crying because they were saying where we were going to buy our sweets”, says one of the sellers.
The company that appears to have purchased this land is a Minnesota real estate company, but it is unclear for what purpose. We have contacted spokespersons for the Alpine Village, but have not yet received a response.