Compton Swap Meet

just like everything else in the ever expanding hood now closed even the local hookers are out of business.

they sell real new era mitchell and nessand other famous hats but check the tags just in case and plus eazy-​e dr. dre mc ren and ice cube use to work here

The original indoor swap meet and still the best!
RIP Wan Joon Kim– godfather of rap

The holy grail of the hood.
You can find ANYTHING & EVERYTHING that you could possibly need here.
I am a sucker for the $ 1 jewelry wall right at the entrance and the custom gold booth.
The former stomping grounds for some of your favorite rappers and current stomping grounds for your future favorites.
Don’t be afraid to come on this side of town and dig out some gold (it may be literal for you).

The location is not pleasing on the eyes. But the shopping is interesting you can find an array of convenience items at moderate prices. Not to mention the talented airbrush artist which is also locate it there.

yeah it use to be crackin back in the days well time changes

They have ANY & EVERYTHING that u need! Good prices & bargaining. It’s easily accessible not have friendly staffing.

OK where have I been within the last 10 years? Apparently not at the Compton Swap meet. This place looks like a ghost town now. Back in the 90’s, this swap meet was poppin’ literally and figuratively. There were «active» booths galore. Now it’s just galore of empty, inactive booths. You can hear crickets and the sound of your heart beating. That’s how dead it is inside.
I only came here in search of some cowboy boots, but no luck. It’s really sad looking inside. If it wasn’t considered a «landmark» in Compton, I would suggest that they close it down. This swap meet is hanging on by a string. The city of Compton is trying to revitalize itself, and this swap meet is a waste of huge space. How about turning it into a Boy’s and Girl’s Club or shopping center like the Gateway Towne Center on Alameda.
Time to let it go Compton, time to let it go…

This is the best swap meet I’ve ever been too and I love it! I get my earings from here, I get stuff for my hair from here and its all in a good price and I love it!

Okay, This used to be 5 stars back in the day. Now — allot of the stores and closed. There are WAAAAY too many empty spaces. Its def not the same. So, this maybe great for all the new Compton Swap meet shoppers but for us veterans (smh) we have seen better. It used to be bargains at every corner, now its DAMN where is a store!
I randomly visited and decided to get my eye brows threaded. OH HELL NAW, lol! I paid the little girl for her job but BOY O BOY she def was a beginner and so was my skin. NEVER AGAIN!
The only reason why I gave them two stars is because LIKE «THE LYNWOOD MARKET PLACE», or the newly «PLAZA MEXICO» the Compton swap meet has African American culture that cannot be replaced.

Back in the day I would chill here get a coke float and just walk around. This place had arcade games, snack bar, hella cheap clothes, lots of parking, druggies and whores standing by the door. Now there are a bunch of empty booths. I remember at one point they were selling baby turtles and bunnies but I don’t see that anymore. There are more cops in the area so that’s probably why a bunch of the illegal activity has stopped. If you’re trying to get some cheap clothes, bikes or wigs/​weaves, I recommend coming here.

I grew up going to this place every day after school, dressed up on the weekends to go to this place to walk around and see the girls nowadays I just go because of the deals the prices of food music Cycadelic records. It’s Compton’s mall

The Compton Swap Meet is probably the second largest building next to the Compton Courthouse. I’ve spent many days of my youth playing arcades here, and just walking around, checking out all kinds of black and Mexican booties. Thanks to the likes of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Doggy Dogg, this place has become world renowned, and it attracts tourists from the most remote locations of… Watts, East L.A., South Central, Inglewood, and many other surrounding cities. The swap meet is conveniently located across the street from some projects, just in case you’re being harassed or chased by 5 – 0, you can always randomly throw up hand gestures and hope that one of them is a gang sign that the bloods in the projects recognize.
Anyway, this place has everything from purple weaves and du rags to exotic animals. I once bought like 3 goldfishes from them for a dollar, but I had to return them the next day, because my mom didn’t allow me to keep them.
The shoe stores in this place are ubiquitous. You find the latest and greatest shoes here; From Jordans, to Nike Cortez, to loafers. And if you’re a bit fancy and you’re into higher-​end fashion, they’ve also got crocodile shoes, ostrich shoes, and what else??? crocodile, ostrich, I can’t remember what other animals, but yeah, they have them. Cowboy boots that are made from these same animals as well. You mostly see older Mexicans and African Americans buy those, but you also see some younger people with bad taste buy them, too. They also have tons of heels and shoes that make women look totally fuckable.
I haven’t bought clothes from here in a long time, ever since they made fun of me in high school for wearing swap meet clothes actually – those bastards! I used to buy lots of Pro Clubs and Pro 5’s from here when it was cool to wear a big ass white or black t-​shirt, but other than that, haven’t really shopped here.
They have a Metro PCS store in here, they have a post office, Mexican food restaurant, snack bar, they have it all! you have to see if for yourself. I can fill reams and reams of paper talking about how much shit is in there.
Au revoir!

I found three pairs of jeans for ten bucks… need I say more?
I went early, but stayed only a few minutes due to limited time. I wish I could have spent more time. The clothes were super cute, and that is not a place that you can seriously shop in fifteen minutes.
If I’m back in LA, I will return here.

This is what a swap meet should be, cheap. Lots of clothes, shoes (sneakers wrapped in plastic and shoes for the ladies), jewelry, posters, video games, beauty supplies, posters, music, housewares, and nail salons are mostly what you’ll find here.

I used to work at my mom’s old ice cream shop here, and this place literally has everything you need/​want in life: clothes, shoes, underwear, food, makeup, hair salon, jewelry, grillz, etc. and everything is so cheap!
There’s an interesting mix of Korean and Hispanic vendors, who all got along and acknowledged regulars like myself with a smile and «hello» or «hola!». I also love how there’s a market right next door, making it very accessible for a foodie like myself to food and treats, including tortas, Mexican style hot dogs, chili mango slices, and tamarind candies. There is also a small eatery down the aisle from the ice cream shop where they had fantastic shrimp ceviches (mmm).
As for the people who shop here, most are black or hispanic, and some occasional Samoans (I met my first Samoans here, they are so nice). As a Korean girl from a city of mostly Asians, this place was a culture shock at first but generally people are nice and friendly.
I have so many memories here. kinda miss it.

Hookers, ample parking, chinese food, etc… All that and you haven’t even entered the swapmeet yet!
You can find anything your little heart desires at this place. It’s like Willy Wonka’s factory in the hood. Ghetto Gary’s if you will.
Love this place.

Bling Bling!!!
This is a great place to get a gold, custom made necklace with your girlfriend’s name in script with a subdued diamond cut in the lettering.
Cool old school hip hop stuff also.

«Listen close cause I don’t want yall to miss how Im gonna brake it down for this trick… check it:
Acacia
Palmer
Maple
Spruce
Cedar
Elm…»
— DJ Quik
Compton Swapmeet has everything you need and everything you want.
If you’re shoe came off by accident and your socks got dirty, you can go to Compton Swapmeet and get 6 fresh pair for $ 5.
If you like the Dodgers hat but you want it to match your black outfit, you can get a black fitted LA from the Compton Swapmeet (and white, and brown, and red, and plaid, and army, etc)
If you have a ghetto fab pet like an Iguana, Snake, Tarantula… there’s a pet store inside just like all the hood swapmeets for all the nutritous snacks
Need a long sleeve plain color shirt for the cooling weather, you can find it in the building.
Crooked bootleg man is outside by the liquor store and smokers as well.
The moral of the story is Compton Swapmeet has everything you need and everything you want.

I like this better than the Slauson Swap Meet: it’s bigger, it isn’t full of security guards, and THE BEST THING: a big wall of jewelry for a dollar/​piece. No, it isn’t good quality, yes, the earrings will probably turn your ears green, but who cares???
If you’d like more upscale jewelry, there’s no shortage of booths selling various gold jewelry, and you’ll easily be able to get your name on a necklace or across giant hoop earrings. You can get custom stickers made (perhaps «charge it to da game»?), or photos put on shirts (maybe your mom pouring one out for her homies?), and awesomely, there’s an airbrushing booth outdoors, which charges less than Slauson’s. Maybe the coolest thing I saw there was a booth with wheels, bars, etc., for tricking out your bike.
Much like Slauson, Compton has wigs and bag after bag of hair for extensions (and way more than Slauson does), incense and clothing with pot leaf designs, shirts for the Lakers and the Dodgers, poor-​quality clubwear, regular wear, kids’ wear, a nail salon, Icees, hot dogs, plus a bunch of food booths lining the outside of the building. Unlike Slauson, the Compton Swap Meet also boasts a hair salon, a bridal… stuff store, a fish store, and although both swap meets sport booths of trashy shoes, Compton has more of them. Where Compton falls well behind Slauson is the women’s restroom, which I HIGHLY recommend avoiding if possible.
Still: Compton FTW.