The Retail Thread

[MarkDaMan]

As someone that lives near a new huge neighborhood crushing warehouse, near two schools, on the old Kmart lot in Parkrose, I welcome any retail proposed in the nearby area over vacant land or more warehouses. Unfortunantly being next to, if not directly under, the PDX runway's final descent/initial ascent, the land use is incredibly limited so Cascade Station is about as good as it gets.

[maccoinnich]

Luxury furniture designer to open in shuttered NW 23rd space



A luxury furniture retailer plans to open an empty space on Portland's Northwest 23rd Avenue next year.

Australia-based King Living will open its third U.S. location in a storefront on the corner of 23rd Avenue and Northwest Flanders Street.

The furniture retailer is expanding with open showrooms in the U.K., New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia and China. There are also two locations currently in the U.S.: in Costa Mesa, California, and Chicago, according to a news release.

The retailer picked Portland after CEO David Woollcott and Mathew Milne, regional retailer manager of North America, visited the city.

“The city’s vibrant food scene, strong sense of design and commitment to sustainability align perfectly with our values,” Woollcott said. “The dynamic neighborhood is the ideal spot for us to connect with a community that will value quality, beauty, functionality and thoughtful design in their living spaces.”

King Living expects to open its Northwest Portland showroom next summer.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal ($).

[babs]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

...continues at the Portland Business Journal ($).

Looking at the prices on their website, we could really use a more affordable home furnishings store. Hope it works out but I will not be a customer.

[RedGlovesRule99]

Just heard that Blue Star Donuts is closing their Lake Oswego and Mississippi locations effective January 1st... I'd heard rumors of their financial troubles for a few months but it's such a shame to see a Portland institution in strife like this.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by RedGlovesRule99

Just heard that Blue Star Donuts is closing their Lake Oswego and Mississippi locations effective January 1st... I'd heard rumors of their financial troubles for a few months but it's such a shame to see a Portland institution in strife like this.

Never seemed like $5+ for average sized donuts was a good long term business model. Over twice the price of other good donuts in the region. And Portland has a ton of good donut shops.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

Never seemed like $5+ for average sized donuts was a good long term business model. Over twice the price of other good donuts in the region. And Portland has a ton of good donut shops.

They are the best I've had though so I feel it warrants somewhat of a premium price.

[maccoinnich]

This is in addition to the previously reported sale of the former Walmart that now houses Hong Phat. It will be interesting to see what they do with the center over time.

Eastport Plaza sold to former Walmart grocery locale owner



A key East Portland shopping center, in southeast Portland’s Jade District has new owners.

The Eastport Plaza shopping center on Southeast 82nd Avenue was sold to the Hong Phat group at the end of December, the Business Journal has learned. It's the first time the shopping center has changed hands since the 1990s, according to a release from SRS Real Estate Partners.

The shopping plaza currently houses Asian supermarket Hong Phat Supercenter, along with other retailers like Ross Dress for Less, LA Fitness and a Cinemark movie theater. A price for the property was not immediately available.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal ($).

[dizflip]

Salt & Straw is expanding to Bridgeport Village. They do a very good job attracting a lot of people, no matter the weather, so this is a pretty solid win for metro retail IMO.
 
Salt & Straw expands in Portland suburbs
Published: Jan. 06, 2025, 4:59 p.m.
By Beth Slovic | The Oregonian/OregonLive

The Portland-based ice cream darling that many people love and some love to hate announced Monday it will open a scoop shop at Tigard’s Bridgeport Village this spring.

The store, set to open across from the Regal Cinema at the outdoor shopping mall, will join locations in Beaverton, Lake Oswego and Vancouver in the Portland suburbs.

Source: https://www.oregonlive.com/food/2025/01/salt-straw-expands-in-portland-suburbs.html

[maccoinnich]

From what I can tell online, right now the former Joann's Fabrics and Izzy Restaurant are closed/vacant. Are there any other vacancies?

New Eastport Plaza owners on decision to acquire Southeast Portland shopping center



Months after the Hong Phat Group acquired a shuttered Walmart on Southeast 82nd Street, group partner Hoang Nguyen began conversations with the former owners of the Eastport Plaza to discuss acquiring the Portland shopping center.

Nguyen said he and his partners began conversations with the shopping center in October 2023 while the shuttered Walmart building was being renovated for the Hong Phat Supercenter.

“This (neighborhood) is our home so we thought it would be nice to have a place with both national tenants and local businesses,” Nguyen told the Business Journal. “We felt this would be a natural thing to do.”

....

“The previous ownership is not local to here so they don’t have the luxury of understanding the community and the neighborhood as well as we do,” Nguyen said. “We’re going to bring in some other retail and food establishments perhaps with a little bit of an Asian flavor to it. … And I think it’s going to benefit the community at large.”

...continues at the Portland Business Journal ($).

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

From what I can tell online, right now the former Joann's Fabrics and Izzy Restaurant are closed/vacant. Are there any other vacancies?

I have huge hopes for a phased rebuild in the future, especially if Marshall HS can be aquired at some point after the PPS HS rebuilds are complete. Excited to see what these owners do. Hong Phat is amazing, I shop at the OG market in Parkrose.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

From what I can tell online, right now the former Joann's Fabrics and Izzy Restaurant are closed/vacant. Are there any other vacancies?



...continues at the Portland Business Journal ($).

I hope they open a Hong Phat in Hillsboro!

[dizflip]

Kohl's closing its location at Gateway

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2025...portland-store-along-with-26-others.html

[babs]

It looks like the Sears building at Washington Square will be replaced by a 🞵🞵🞵🞵's House of Sports. Those are their larger format stores that having rock climbing walls, a faux grass field and more to make it more interactive.

https://aca-prod.accela.com/TIGARD/Cap/C...02&agencyCode=TIGARD&IsToShowInspection=
Project Description:
Washington Square Mall - Sears Redevelopment
Sears Building will be demolished and replaced by a 🞵🞵🞵🞵's House of Sports. Future phases of project will consist of a 5-story hotel south of the existing parking garage and a future multi-family development (by others) at the south end of the property replacing the old sears autopart store.

No idea what will happen with the current 🞵🞵🞵🞵's Sporting Good building. This is all a change in the malls plans as they originally were planning to replace the Sears store with two buildings on each side of the current entrance. Both with restaurants on the ground floor, with one building topped with an entertainment tenants like Dave & Busters and the other building topped with a WeWork like facility.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by babs

No idea what will happen with the current 🞵🞵🞵🞵's Sporting Good building.

If they can't find a single tenant, I'm guessing they could divide it demise it down for multiple tenants?

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by babs

It looks like the Sears building at Washington Square will be replaced by a 🞵🞵🞵🞵's House of Sports. Those are their larger format stores that having rock climbing walls, a faux grass field and more to make it more interactive.

https://aca-prod.accela.com/TIGARD/Cap/C...02&agencyCode=TIGARD&IsToShowInspection=
Project Description:
Washington Square Mall - Sears Redevelopment
Sears Building will be demolished and replaced by a 🞵🞵🞵🞵's House of Sports. Future phases of project will consist of a 5-story hotel south of the existing parking garage and a future multi-family development (by others) at the south end of the property replacing the old sears autopart store.

No idea what will happen with the current 🞵🞵🞵🞵's Sporting Good building. This is all a change in the malls plans as they originally were planning to replace the Sears store with two buildings on each side of the current entrance. Both with restaurants on the ground floor, with one building topped with an entertainment tenants like Dave & Busters and the other building topped with a WeWork like facility.

That would be awesome if this location includes an ice rink like some of the Dicks House of Sports' locations.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

If they can't find a single tenant, I'm guessing they could divide it demise it down for multiple tenants?

I know movie theaters are going through a rough time, but I'd love it if Washington Square added a Cinemark or some such theater. There's good dining and shopping but it could use a beefing up of their entertainment. A revamped 🞵🞵🞵🞵's and a luxury movie theater would go a long way.

[babs]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

I know movie theaters are going through a rough time, but I'd love it if Washington Square added a Cinemark or some such theater. There's good dining and shopping but it could use a beefing up of their entertainment. A revamped 🞵🞵🞵🞵's and a luxury movie theater would go a long way.

The original plans for the Sears store included a movie theater on the 2nd floor of one of two buildings. However when the pandemic crippled the industry, they replaced it in their plans with an entertainment center of some sort like a Dave & Busters or a Round One. Now with this recent change, everything seems to be up in the air.

I would think adding more restaurants would be in the cards as they are busiest businesses in the mall as they have done a good job of meeting suburban demand with Din Tai Fung, Gen Korean, Cheesecake Factory, and 85C Bakery. I hope they replace the food court with a food hall that features some smaller businesses perhaps food cart folks who want to step up to the next level.

[downtownpdx]

Board game cafe, crepery to fill shuttered Green Zebra space on Division

green-zebra-location by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2025/01/17/capes-crepes-division-green-zebra.html

By Sara Edwards – Commercial Real Estate reporter, Portland Business Journal
Jan 17, 2025
Updated Jan 17, 2025 5:30pm PST

A board game, crepery and boba tea cafe are set to transform a former Southeast Portland grocery store.

Capes & Crepes will open in the shuttered Green Zebra store at 4990 S.E. Division St. with board games, gaming rooms and food offerings.

The project is spearheaded by Portland couple Karim Soliman, a chief financial officer at a local tech startup, and Chelsea Hughes, a microbiologist in her last year of completing a Ph.D. at Portland State University, who had a dream to open a family-friendly board game cafe.

“We want a place where people get to hang out and bring more families and new players into the hobby in a way that’s a little bit more welcoming,” Soliman said.

The former grocery store space is around 7,000 square feet. The space’s entrance will house shelves for board games to be rented or purchased and tables for open seating.

The northeast corner will be the restaurant, which will serve crepes and boba teas among other offerings.

Two private game rooms will be in the southwest portion of the space, with a large tournament space for large groups in the middle.

Each section will also be decorated with a different theme to add a “magical feeling” to the space.

The cafe is expected to open later this spring.

[twofiftyfive]

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

Board game cafe, crepery to fill shuttered Green Zebra space on Division

This is only half a mile from TPK, the role-playing game themed brewpub on Hawthorne.

[2oh1]

I hope this stuff catches on.

I used to love going to The New Old Lompoc at odd hours to play board games, back in the day. I loved that place.