Swap Meet to Reopen Within Weeks

The Crenshaw Swap Meet, a collection of mostly Korean-owned outlets in the Santa Barbara Plaza that was damaged during the April-May riots, is preparing to reopen within weeks.

The swap meet has been spruced up with a fresh coat of paint and a repaired interior, but the mostly black merchants in the rest of the plaza hope the changes will involve more than just a face lift.

“I want to see the swap meet get involved in the plaza,” said Robert Moore, a 14-year proprietor of Moore’s Hair Design and president of the Santa Barbara Plaza Merchants Assn. “Before the riots, the management and most of the vendors here were totally aloof. Black folks, including myself, spent money with them, yet they gave nothing back in terms of consideration.”

Last month, Moore introduced himself to the swap meet’s managers in the hope that there could be a closer relationship among all merchants in the plaza. Moore wanted to do something to ease the distrust among blacks and Koreans, and he said he hopes swap meet merchants will become more connected to the mall community by doing things such as patronizing restaurants and shops there.

Swap meet co-manager Kwang Choe supported Moore’s ideas, and two weeks ago attended his first Community Redevelopment Agency meeting about the future of the plaza.

“We weren’t part of the (merchant’s association) before, but we will be now,” said Choe, who was overseeing construction on a recent afternoon. “It’s better to know everyone, communicate with them face to face. It’s important to not have the good guy-bad guy thinking. We all have the same goal: good business.”

The three-story, 45,000-square-foot swap meet has already filled 35 of its 50 spaces with returning merchants. Of the 35 shops that will be reopening, 30 are Korean-owned--the same proportion as before the riots. Some black merchants are concerned that the swap meet is reluctant to rent space to non-Koreans, but Choe said he has no such policy.

John Kim, a co-owner of Bell’s Liquor Store on the north side of the plaza, said Korean business owners, especially recent immigrants, must sensitize themselves to other cultures if they want to succeed.

“You have to be part of the community,” said Kim, whose staff of six includes three blacks and a Latino. “Even though I was looted during the riots, I came back. I found out my neighbors wanted me here.”