Mag-Big has had a rather meteoric rise to prominence in the city as both a retailer and clothing line, thanks in large part to founder Cassie Ridgway’s stick-to-yer-guns attitude toward supporting and growing a class of small apparel businesses she’s dubbed “designer manufacturers.” But now, it’s time for something new. Mag-Big as we know it […]
Portland
Posted inPortland
The 2014 World Beard & Moustache Championships from the Wings
On Saturday, I had the strange honor of being a judge at the 2014 World Beard & Moustache Championships—which, as the Oregonian fretted, was a bit of a shit show—but in the most genial way. I wasn’t even sure, before I arrived, if it would be a stage and lights deal, or more like a […]
Posted inPortland
SIXSEVEN, Shop North of West, and Other Retail Booms
I’m still recovering from the excitement of West End Select Shop‘s opening, and I literally had a dream about how awesome the new, expanded Palace is going to be (it’s slated for a grand-reveal shindig on Nov 1). It just keeps happening, though. In between the moves and expansions of Frances May (which is moving […]
Posted inPortland
All Jane No Dick Closing Showcase: The Loopiest Sets They’ve Ever Done
Pat Moran IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU: Aparna Nancherla shares the saddest ever Okcupid message. By the end of a festival like All Jane No Dick, many of the stand-ups have already performed their laughter-proven material, making the final performance a weird playground for trying out new bits on a captive audience, or, as Phoebe […]
Posted inBooks
In Other Words Update: They Need $20k by November to Stay Open
Last week, beloved feminist bookstore In Other Words board member Madeline Jaross told the Oregonian that the nonprofit was struggling financially and might be closing at the end of February if the situation doesn’t improve. This week, In Other Words sent out an email announcing an IndieGoGo campaign to make up the funds they’d need […]
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Here’s What Would Have to Happen to Keep In Other Words Open
In Other Words Closing? On Sunday, Madeline Jaross, an In Other Words Board member, told the Oregonian that the nonprofit, volunteer-operated feminist bookstore and community center might close at the end of of February. She cited a lack of financial resources, low board retention, and a shortage of volunteers as contributing factors. She told the […]
Posted inPortland
Results of the Portland Made Survey
On Friday at ADX, the Portland Made collective celebrated national Manufacturing Day with a party featuring remarks from Earl Blumenauer, Jules Bailey, and Nick Fish, followed by a presentation of a survey taken and analyzed by Charles Heying, Ph.D, who you likely remember as the author of Brew to Bikes: Portland’s Artisan Economy. (The survey […]
Posted inFashion
Parsing the Portland Apparel Lab: Launch Strategy and Data
Ok! Diving back in to the meaty issues at hand regarding the proposed Portland Apparel Lab (PAL). We’ve looked at the memberships and costs, which have understandably been the focus of most prospective members I’ve spoken to. But part of PAL’s launch strategy brings up a crucial that hasn’t been brought to the fore perhaps […]
Posted inFashion
Parsing the Portland Apparel Lab: Memberships
After the official launch/reveal of the Portland Apparel Lab, here’s where I left off. After a brief respite from the brain-taxing effort of trying to take in the full scope of PAL, I’ve decided to break this up issue by issue. So here is part one of PAL co-founder Crispin Argento’s answers to my questions. […]
Posted inPortland
Here’s What Four Decades of Gentrification in North and Northeast Portland Looks Like
In this week’s Hall Monitor, I wrote about the first of four scheduled community forums meant to help city officials spend an extra $20 million on affordable housing in the Interstate Urban Renewal Area—a snaking swath of land (born in 2000) that’s done, by some measures, more harm than good to Portland’s traditional African American […]
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How East Portland Was Born… and Ignored
FAIRLY OR NOT, many Portlanders consider 82nd Avenue a boundary line. A wall between Portland and something else. “I have this joke about Portland and East Portland,” says Jamaal Green, a Ph.D. student at Portland State University studying urban planning, East Portland in particular. “If you were to make a map of the city, it […]
Posted inPortland
Old Town Chinatown’s Bright Retail Future
There was a time not so long ago when downtown retail suffered a 12 percent vacancy rate, spurring a coalition of private and public forces to concentrate their efforts on developing a thriving shopping corridor. The most notable effort, perhaps, was a series of holiday-season pop-up shops that featured local makers and retailers, some of […]