Pearl District News

[babs]

Originally Posted by DMH

Was there / is there a Starbucks at NW 9th and Lovejoy? There is a Subway at that corner. Is there a mixup and Subway was meant?
There is a Starbucks inside Safeway at NW 13th & Lovejoy.

I do visit the Starbucks inside the Safeway but the heavily armed, fake cops who stare down everyone walking in makes me uncomfortable and not any safer. I hope this is not the future of urban retail where stores need SWAT team wannabes intimidating customers in order to scare away anyone who looks homeless or thinks about stealing. There has to be a better way.

[PhillyPDX]

There was a Starbucks at NW 11th and Lovejoy.

I think this is all a result of Starbucks campaign to allow any user to use its restrooms in the wake of the national racist PR fiasco a few years ago in Philly where the baristas challenged black customers in the store. Starbucks went entirely the other way to allow NO restrictions on bathroom use across the country, and now have an issue with safety (several Philly stores with high bathroom OD rates have closed too...some union, some not). I suppose rather than allow baristas discretion to control access, and another PR nightmare, they have just decided to cut losses in a few stores that have safety issues and close all together. Starbucks Corp owns all of their locations so has complete control.

https://www.businessinsider.com/star...arrests-2022-7

[cityscapes]

Basics market across the street from Safeway has also closed.

[CorbinWarrick]

Originally Posted by cityscapes

Basics market across the street from Safeway has also closed.

Yikes. I can’t believe these stores in main areas just dropping like flies

[maccoinnich]

I'm sure Basics had their dedicated clientele, but I wonder whether it was a great idea to open a store across the street from Safeway, but with shorter opening hours, higher prices and a more limited selection. It reminded me a little of the briefly lived Local Choice Market (where Barbur World Foods is now located).

[sopdx]

I believe Basics is temporarily closed to retool itself as a grab and go. At least that is what I read about a month ago. Their website also states a temporary closure.

[AdamNorthwest]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

I'm sure Basics had their dedicated clientele, but I wonder whether it was a great idea to open a store across the street from Safeway, but with shorter opening hours, higher prices and a more limited selection. It reminded me a little of the briefly lived Local Choice Market (where Barbur World Foods is now located).

Wow I totally forgot about this place! I recall they used to open the garage doors with sidewalk produce. Sad those days are gone due to theft...

[maccoinnich]

Per their instagram, Janken is opening this weekend in the former Bluehour space.

[maccoinnich]

Inside Janken, the Stylish, Star-Studded New Celebration Restaurant in Northwest Portland
Pop-up favorites like Luna Contreras and Gabriella Martinez join a longtime Miami chef at this stunning spot within the former Bluehour space



Chef Rodrigo Ochoa loves dinner that feels like a celebration. Walking into his new Northwest Portland restaurant Janken, which opened this weekend in the former Bluehour space, that passion is evident: Sitting at white oak and quartz tables, diners watch servers toss sizzling bowls of rice tableside. Chefs at a glowing sushi bar toward the back of the restaurant top wagyu nigiri with caviar. Under a tsunami of a curved slat wall, bartenders finish cocktails with a dome of smoke or a rose-shaped sphere of ice. For him, high-end dining isn’t just about glamour; it’s about what it means to celebrate.

“During the pandemic, I got to see the impact we have with our guests. People visit because of birthdays, because they beat cancer,” Ochoa says. “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Ochoa, a Florida transplant with Colombian roots, got his start in ritzy Miami restaurants, steakhouses and special occasion spots from Douglas Rodriguez and Michael Mina. Now living in the opposite corner of the country, Ochoa wants to create something memorable and festive, and he’s enlisted the help of notable local talents. Chef Luna Contreras, formerly of lauded San Francisco restaurants, is now known for her pop-up Chelo; she’ll be in the kitchen alongside pastry chef Gabriella Martinez, a.k.a. the mind behind dessert pop-up Sweet Creature. Ochoa also brought some chefs with him: sous chef Juah Oh, who worked with Ochoa at a number of restaurants in Florida, agreed to follow him to Oregon, as did sushi chef and fellow Komodo alum Erich Hentschel. “I came from a city that was very hardcore,” Ochoa says. “Here, we can just focus on working together.”

...continues at Eater Portland.

[maccoinnich]

Also, a permit was issued last week for Toro, in the former Tilt space.

[PhillyPDX]

Unfortunate (for offices/biz districts at least) Portland economy is so tech driven, easy industry to shift to WFH.

https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-f...mote-work.html

[maccoinnich]

Permit for the Choice Cambria is now approved to issue.

[sopdx]

This is disappointing.

Didn't this building start at 20+ stories, then dropped to 11? Now it's down to 8.

Wait a few more months; it might be an underground parking structure with a concrete slab.

https://www.portlandmaps.com/detail/...U/4909837_did/

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by sopdx

This is disappointing.

Didn't this building start at 20+ stories, then dropped to 11? Now it's down to 8.

Wait a few more months; it might be an underground parking structure with a concrete slab.

https://www.portlandmaps.com/detail/...U/4909837_did/

Very disappointing, it makes it feel like the whole Post Office site will also end up being a bunch of 8 story buildings "to match the character of the surrounding building."

[CorbinWarrick]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Very disappointing, it makes it feel like the whole Post Office site will also end up being a bunch of 8 story buildings "to match the character of the surrounding building."

Oh most definitely. The post office site is starting to head in the path of major disappointment and we will never have a site that large in the downtown core

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick

Oh most definitely. The post office site is starting to head in the path of major disappointment and we will never have a site that large in the downtown core

I wouldn't go that far, things are still moving forward as demolition is underway. I am still hopeful that we end up with a cluster of South Waterfront size towers at this site to surround the north end of the North Park Blocks.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I wouldn't go that far, things are still moving forward as demolition is underway. I am still hopeful that we end up with a cluster of South Waterfront size towers at this site to surround the north end of the North Park Blocks.

And the timing could work out well, depending on how Portland continues to recover.

[pdxsg34]

REI to close only Portland store, citing break-ins, theft

The outdoor retail giant REI Co-op announced Monday that it plans to close its store in Portland’s Pearl District early next year, citing an increase in crime and thefts.

In in email to its members Monday, REI said its store in Portland “had its highest number of break-ins and thefts in two decades, despite actions to provide extra security.”

Continues ($)

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by pdxsg34

REI to close only Portland store, citing break-ins, theft



Continues ($)

What a catastrophe, both in practice and optically for Portland. And yet people still think there isn’t an issue in this city. That store was always packed, and a nice store in an outdoorsy town.

[Derek]

I was just in there last week on a Wednesday afternoon and it was packed. What a terrible loss.