Shopping

Downtown Portland

In the heart of the downtown shopping district, Pioneer Place (SW 5th Ave. and Morrison St., 503/228-5800) is an upscale shopping development that features a number of national merchandisers, including Eddie Bauer, Ann Taylor, J. Crew, Coach, and other retailers found in Rouse shopping developments. The lower level features a vast food court.

Saks Fifth Avenue (850 SW 5th Ave., 503/221-3200), the New York–based clothier, has a Portland outlet that offers designer clothing and upscale accessories. It’s linked to Pioneer Place via skywalks.

Indigenous to the Northwest, Nordstrom (701 SW Broadway, 503/224-6666) offers downtown shoppers quality clothing and shoes from its location just west of Pioneer Courthouse Square [3]. Founded in 1854, Meier & Frank was Portland’s homegrown downtown department store; it’s now a Macy’s (621 SW 5th Ave., 503/223-0512).

Real Mother Goose (901 SW Yamhill St., 503/223-9510 or 800/968-1070) is a quality crafts gallery that presents jewelry, pottery, woodcrafts, and other design goods from hundreds of Northwest artists and craftspeople. It’s an excellent place to buy one-of-a-kind gifts. Another excellent local crafts gallery with particularly cool jewelry is Twist, found both in Pioneer Place (700 SW 5th Ave., 503/222-3137) and in Northwest Portland [4] (30 NW 23rd Place, 503/224-0334).

If you don’t have time to make a trip to Oregon’s wine country, stop by Oregon Wines on Broadway (515 SW Broadway, 503/228-4655 or 800/943-8858), a wine shop devoted to Northwest wines. Wine tastings and winemaker events are often held on Thursday nights.

Based in the Portland metro area, Columbia Sportswear has its flagship store downtown (911 SW Broadway, 503/226-6800) and an outlet in Sellwood [5] (1323 SE Tacoma St., 503/238-0118). This is the place to go for fashionable hard-working outerwear for recreation and heavy weather.

Northwest Portland

For many visitors, the famous Powell’s City of Books [6] (1005 W. Burnside St., 503/228-0540 or 800/878-7323) is one of Portland [2]’s primary attractions. A block square and three stories tall, Powell’s combines new, used, and out-of-print books and is usually absolutely thronged with bibliophiles. In addition to miles of bookshelves, Powell’s offers a coffee shop as well as free author events and book signings. There are a total of five Powell’s Books stores in metro Portland.

Whether you’re a professional chef or an enthusiastic home cook, you’ll find every culinary device known to humankind, plus handsome china and pottery, at Sur La Table (1102 NW Couch St., 503/295-9679). Cooking classes and wine-tasting courses are held in the adjacent display kitchen.

Synonymous with earth-friendly and socially responsible manufacturing, Patagonia (907 NW Irving St., 503/525-2552) shares a large and strikingly handsome historical storefront with the Ecotrust Foundation in the Pearl District [7]. Patagonia offers serious gear and clothing for those serious about the outdoors.

Northeast Portland

The first shopping center in North America, Lloyd Center [8] (NE 15th Ave. and Weidler St., 503/282-2511) is still one of Portland’s major shopping destinations with over 160 stores and businesses under one roof, including Nordstrom, Sears, Macy’s, and Marshalls. Lloyd Center also boasts an indoor ice-skating rink and two multiplex cinemas. The MAX light-rail train is free between Lloyd Center and downtown.

Southeast Portland

Acres of upholstery fabric from around the world make the Whole Nine Yards (1820 E. Burnside St., 503/223-2880) a must-stop for home decorators. Portland [2] has a wealth of historic homes from the arts and crafts period at the turn of the 20th century, so perhaps its no surprise to find Rejuvenation (1100 SE Grand Ave., 503/238-1900) in the city. A vast enterprise dedicated to remodeling and decorating period homes, Rejuvenation is filled with everything you need to replace or restore vintage homes, from brass hinges and push-button light switches to period lighting and Victorian furniture. Within a few blocks of Rejuvenation are a number of other tile, lighting, stone, and decor stores. This is a must-stop for anyone who loves period homes.

A quintessential Portland business, Music Millennium (3158 E. Burnside St., 503/248-0163) is a vast and funky CD and music store of the sort that once typified the 1970s. In Portland, however, the chain stores haven’t yet managed to drive this much-loved institution out of business. You’ll find almost every kind of music—old, new, rare, foreign—you name it, it’s probably here. Next door is Classical Millennium, which offers the same expansive selection for opera and classical music fans. This is a one-of-a-kind store and as close to the still-beating subversive heart of Portland as you’ll get on a casual visit.

Portland is famed for its parks and gardens, and no wonder—the climate here is so mild and nurturing that gardeners can grow almost anything. As if to prove the point, there’s Portland Nursery (5050 SE Stark St., 503/231-5050). If you’ve got a green thumb or just enjoy plant life, consider a trip to this block-square nursery, the city’s largest and most comprehensive. Portland gardeners are a demanding and experimental lot, and chances are you’ll see plants here that you’ve only ever seen in catalogs or magazines.