Be Nice Have Fun closed its doors on York Boulevard March 22. Shop owner Destine Escobedo said even though the shop’s brick-and-mortar store is closed, the shop remains open online. Be Nice Have Fun let the building owners know that they wanted to renew their lease in December 2025, but were never given the opportunity to do so, Escobedo said.
“We received a notice from our owner that ownership was changing, and that they would not be renewing our lease,” Escobedo said. “We never received a response until February […] They said they would not be renewing our lease at all and that we had to be out by the end of our lease, which is March 31.”
Escobedo said she was never offered the option to pay a higher rent to stay in the shop and that she was told Be Nice Have Fun had to vacate the store by March 31.
“We want to make sure to stay within this community, which we value so much, so we do want to stay in the area,” Escobedo said.
According to Escobedo, the shop opened in 2019 at a different location on York Boulevard, with the mission to provide service and accessible workshops for the neighborhood.
“It has been such a challenge from the beginning, being an in-person shop owner, because it was right before the pandemic when we opened,” Escobedo said.
The shop is full of small trinkets and has a table in the middle where patrons can do hands-on crafts, which Escobedo said includes bringing half-finished works to complete in a different environment.
“We have hosted a slew of different workshops, everything from understanding finance to crafting,” Escobedo said. “It really is just whatever the needs of our community are at the moment.”
According to Escobedo, shoppers at Be Nice Have Fun typically align with the political statements featured in their storefront, such as the “Know Your Rights” cards painted in the window.
“We believe that no one is illegal – especially on stolen land, everyone belongs,” Escobedo said. “Everyone who comes into our shop has really understood where we stand from the get-go because all the different things that we do carry here feel influenced by our stance on things.”
Be Nice Have Fun hosted their ‘Goodbye for now’ party March 21, packing the shop and street outside with vendors, food, coffee, a photobooth and a DJ. The line stretched down York Boulevard between Avenues 50-51, and tickets sold out online. According to returning visitor Aro Zhou, the shop features local artists and hosts community events Zhou has attended.
“I saw on their Instagram that they were getting evicted, which is really unfortunate, because as I understand, they [Be Nice Have Fun] are immigrant-owned and we live in crazy times,” Zhou said. “It’s very unfortunate that we are losing another community space.”
According to party attendee Nicole Nidelian, Be Nice Have Fun and other locally-owned shops on York Boulevard have created opportunities for different people in the Highland Park neighborhood to connect.
“This street as a whole is a really great space and it’s not something that is easily offered in many of the little suburbs within Los Angeles,” Nicole Nidelian said.
According to Escobedo, the party served as a way to help the shop move on and get closer to their goal of reopening a brick-and-mortar in Northeast LA (NELA).
“We really want to secure another space, so on our party day, we’re taking donations and really wanting to sell through the inventory that we have, just to be able to land on our feet in our next move,” Escobedo said.
Nicole Nidelian said hearing that another neighborhood shop is facing closure due to a landlord situation is frustrating, especially when it comes to small businesses that work to do public events for the community.
“This is actively negatively working against the community, and working against local businesses and people who have been here for a long time,” Nicole Nidelian said. “Long term, you’re bringing in new businesses that are part of corporations or not locally run.”
According to Amanda Nidelian, an urban planner and resident of LA, locations such as Be Nice Have Fun are third spaces that serve as cornerstones of neighborhoods such as Highland Park.
“This is a community location, this is somewhere that is a big facet for everybody here,” Amanda Nidelian said. “So to take it away is taking part of Highland Park away.”
The March 21 event served as a way to celebrate the store, and sell out the items Be Nice Have Fun still has in stock, Escobedo said.
“We opened our space with vendors and celebration, and we want to close our space in that way as well,” Escobedo said. “We’re bringing other vendors and the community to the forefront and sharing a space with them.”
Contact Abigail Montopoli at montopoli@oxy.edu
