No matter your stance on the Lloyd Center mall’s closing, future demolition, and redevelopment, it’s difficult to deny that this year’s holiday season will feel a little hollow without it. While most of the mall’s 100+ storefronts had been vacant for the past five years, the owners’ offers of reduced rent to fledgling businesses, art spaces, and market pop-ups earned Lloyd Center a new reputation as a startup incubator and growing community for Portland’s weird.
That all ended on August 8, when the mall’s interior closed permanently to the public. Tenants needed to be out of the building by August 31, excluding a handful, like Jumbo Pickleball and Regal Lloyd Center, that weren’t part of the main structure.
Not every venture has gone onto greener pastures, but plenty have found some footing. Be you shopping or snacky, this list serves as a quick update about where some of your faves have found ground.
This is one of the many articles in the Mercury’s Holiday Issue 2026. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you’re feeling generous and want to keep these types of articles coming, support us here.—eds.
Floating World Comics
Exactly four years ago, comics culture hub Floating World moved from its longheld home in Old Town to the Lloyd Center’s second floor. “I’ve never thought of a mall as calming and soothing, but the energy was fresh and relaxing…,” owner Jason Leivian wrote at the time. Initially neighbors with record store Musique Plastique and T-shirt art studio Dreem Street, Floating World helped establish a hub of cool, quality shops whose combined presence drew visitors to a mall that began to feel not so much dead as semi-retired. With the comics spot’s new space, Leivian is again finding it all in the mall, this time on Pioneer Place’s lower level with Grass Hut, a shop-within-a-shop known for its fantastic toy monsters. Hitting the ground running, Floating World has already hosted notable comics artists in the new space, like Katie Skelly, Dash Shaw, and Jesse Moynihan, and there’s plenty more planned, with book releases and comics readings from Patrick Keck, Suzy Valentine, Sam Alden, and Ross Jackson already on the docket for November. (Pioneer Place, 700 SW 5th, lower level, floatingworldcomics.com)
Brickdiculous
A place for all things Lego—including birthday parties and workshops—Brickdiculous also moved into the lower level of Pioneer Place Mall, where they’re holding strong by the food court. (Pioneer Place, 700 SW 5th, lower level, brickdiculous.com)
All American Magic Shop and Theater
A purveyor of secrets, tricks, props, and other slight-of-hand supplies, All American Magic joined the Pioneer Place crew, making do with a smaller performing stage for the meanwhile. The owner also opened a separate theater in Salem Center Mall. (Pioneer Place, 700 SW 5th, lower level, allamericanmagic.com)
Kathmandu to You
There are two Kathmandu to You locations in the Portland area and a third in Salem, so nothing really changed for the shops at Portland Saturday Market and at Salem Center Mall. But the bohemian style boutique opened a new space in Pioneer Place to offset the Lloyd closing. (Pioneer Place, 700 SW 5th, lower level; 121 SW Ankeny)
Second Hand Pet Supply
Nonprofit thrift shop Second Hand Pet Supply packs a one-two punch of saving people cash on gently used or repaired pet items, like collars, crates, and those little dog poop bag holders that attach to your leash. Second Hand actually moved in the spring, reopening in Parkrose Plaza. However, they also recently began offering consigned items in the basement of Next Adventure Outdoor Store on SE Grand. (Parkrose Plaza, 5079 NE 122nd, consigned items at Next Adventure, 426 SE Grand, secondhandpetsupply.com)
Gambit’s Games and Anime
Making the jump to brick and mortar just as the mall closed, Gambit’s Games and Anime reopened their card and collectible shop in August. In addition to game events and tournaments, Gambit’s also recently began hosting pinball machines run by their Lloyd friends Star Tropics Pinball Museum. Still pinging around, Star Tropics has been coordinating weekly Saturday meetups called “Portland Pinball Tours” at different arcade spots around the city—they blast info about that on their pinball Discord. (Gambit’s Games and Anime, 2975 NE Sandy, gambits-games-and-anime.square.site)
Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn
One of the original tenants of Lloyd Center Mall, Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn had been in operation there since 1960—a truly jaw-dropping 66 years! Fans of the sticky stuff worried where the iconic snack spot would land. As of October 30, Joe Brown’s began a new lease in Tigard’s Washington Square Mall. (Washington Square Mall, 9585 SW Washington Square, joebrownscarmelcorn.com)
LoRell’s Chicken Shack
When Darell Preston’s Chicago-style chicken moved into the Lloyd Center food court, it made people sit up and ask: Wow, is this reborn mall really happening? Many were relieved to hear the lauded lemon-pepper rub landed in North Portland, finally finding its own brick and mortar space on N Russell, in a building owned by the 1803 Fund. (LoRell’s Chicken Shack, 668 N Russell, instagram.com/lorellschickenshack)
Stoopid Burger
Another curiously good food court alumnus, Stoopid Burger left Lloyd in June, not long after the total closure announcement. They already had two other locations, a brick and mortar at Montavilla Food Hall on NE Glisan and a food cart in a pod in St. Helens, so for their next expansion, they’ve said they’re looking at Vancouver and Gresham. (Stoopid Burger, 6935 NE Glisan, 175 Bowling Alley, St. Helens, stoopidburger.net)
Food Court 5000
The project of local performer Vera Mysteria (AKA Krista Catwood), Food Court 5000’s stylish, invigorating mall walks were probably the best known thing about Lloyd Center’s incubation days—thanks to viral videos, national coverage, and even an appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show. Though Catwood fought hard for the space, contributing time and testimony to the Save Lloyd campaign, Food Court 5000 was never actually a tenant, and the walks shifted seamlessly outdoors, with participants hoofin’ it through local parks and outdoor routes. For November, Food Court 5000 plans to try on Clackamas Town Center for size. (instagram.com/foodcourt5000)
