Nick's Metropolis in Mid City selling off vintage props, memorabilia ahead of possible closure

MID CITY, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- You never know what you might find inside Nick Metropolis' vintage store in Mid City. He's part salesman and part humanitarian. At 80 years old, he is facing the fact he might lose his beloved business.

As the old Beatles song goes, to get by, he's going to need a little from his friends - and from the community he calls home.

"People pull up in cars and trucks every day. 'Nick, do you want to buy this? Do you want to buy that?" Metropolis said.

What Metropolis is buying now - is time. The landlord for his Pico Boulevard store is taking him to court in a matter of days and he needs about $14,000 in back rent, hoping to stop being evicted. He's raised about half of the money through a GoFundMe campaign.

"People send $5 and $10 and I'm hoping that enough will come in to be able to pay the landlord in the next couple of weeks with our GoFundMe. And then we can continue doing what we do. When we get help, we serve the community," said Metropolis. "We love to give. And for 33 years, this is our free table. Love thy neighbor. We do food. We give away children's books. We give away children's toys. We love to give."

The longtime store operator says from the moment you walk in the door, you are treated with kindness and love.

"Thirty percent of our business, which I'm very thankful for, is prop rental. It's 30% of the business and we mix it up here quite a bit," said Metropolis. "We don't specialize. And the prop people like us because they come in and say, 'Wow! I didn't think I'd find anything like this!'"

While we were there, one happy customer discovered boxes of vintage Valentine's. And there are letters - letters of all kinds - thousands of them!

"We're actually known as the letter kings. Signage and letters are our specialty," said Metropolis.

The one-word people make most with the letters is love.

"I always say every morning, 'Bless me big so I can give bigger.' That's what Nick Metropolis is all about," Metropolis said.