In late February, Pigeon’s Roller Rink announced it’d be closing its 2nd and PCH location on March 13.
The news might have come as a surprise to the Long Beach community, but owner Shayna “Pigeon” Meikle said that they knew it was coming.
“We are really really grateful that 2ND and PCH and the property management there has given us this opportunity for this long,” she said. “We were only supposed to be there for three months and they worked it to push it and push it to let us stay there.”
Despite what seems to be bad news for the skate rink and Long Beach community, Meikle said she is grateful nonetheless, and views it as a bittersweet moment. She thanked the management at CenterCal and the landlords for giving her an opportunity and taking a risk on Pigeon’s.
“I want the people of Long Beach to understand that we’re lucky, we were so lucky to have this opportunity and even though it’s sad, the memories can’t be taken away,” she tearfully said.
The three-month pop-up turned into something larger for the Long Beach community, showing the impact small businesses can have on the community.
“[Long Beach deserves] a roller rink. They deserve places where they can be safe and to enjoy themselves and focus on joy — every city deserves it,” she said.
Meikle said the outpouring of support from local residents is magical, as she began to tear up thinking back to the start of Pigeon’s.
The rink was initially supposed to be an extension of her roller derby league, which lost their venue during COVID. Once she toured the space however, it made her flip the script. She decided to start a rink and said the universe made it happen, which felt like a calling to her.
“The roller rink had a life of its own, it had a culture of its own and a community of its own. It had so many people supporting it from landlords to management to the city to the people and it really was a magical thing that happened,” Meikle said.
With Pigeon’s bringing in thousands of skaters to the rink monthly, companies, brokerages and malls have reached out to start a new Pigeon’s location of their own. Meikle said they have things in the works but they’d really want a home in Long Beach.
“What the public can do to help us is word of mouth. There’s definitely a landlord out there who needs their location activated that is willing to do a revenue share,” she said. “I just need to find those people.”
Community members can still glide over to Meikle’s storefront, Pigeon’s Roller Skate Shop (2148 E. Fourth St.) for skate rentals.
“I want to thank Long Beach for showing up and making it feel like their roller rink. That felt so good to me that people felt so at home there,” Meikle said as she reflected on the 2ND and PCH roller rink. “Just a deep heartfelt thank you for making everyone’s dreams come true for the last five years.”
