DOWNTOWN RETAILER Doug Peterson has owned his eponymous
convenience store on SW 10th and Morrison for 23 years.
“I’m a downtown booster, I always have been,” he says. “I opened
that store when the MAX was under construction and there were
jackhammers all over the place. I saw the future for downtown Portland,
and took advantage of it.”
Now, with the arrival of the upscale Brooks Brothers store directly
across the street from Peterson’s shop, it appears Peterson’s welcome
with the downtown business community and in turn, the City of
Portland—which owns the parking garage his retail space is
in—has worn out. He has until August 15 to get out: The city,
which has been charging Peterson $2,935 a month to rent the space, says
the store is now a problem location.
Peterson owns three stores in downtown Portland, making $2.87
million a year in sales, he says. According to Peterson, his flagship
SW Morrison store has annual sales of $1.4 million.
“I’m really very upset about this,” he says. “I haven’t really told
my employees yet. I’ve been hoping I could do something quietly behind
the scenes without attracting too much attention.”
The arrival of the Brooks Brothers store in the Galleria Building
opposite Peterson’s was greeted with glee by Portland Business Alliance
(PBA) boss Sandra McDonough—she announced it to City Club in May
2007. Brooks Brothers would have a “galvanizing and important effect on
the west end of downtown,” she said.
The Brooks Brothers store opened last November. On April 9, the city
sent Peterson an eviction letter, citing unspecified “incidents” and
complaints.
“Over the years, as you know, we have received, and observed,
incidents that are objected to by other businesses in the immediate
area, and that are offensive to users of the parking garage, and to
passersby,” wrote Diana Lee Holuka, the City of Portland’s property
acquisition and services manager.
“A recent escalation in complaints to us has led to this final
decision regarding your tenancy,” the letter continued.
Peterson says his business is no different from Rite Aid, Nordstrom,
or Pioneer Square when it comes to the type of incidents that happen
outside his doors, and thinks he’s being unfairly targeted as a result
of “gentrification.”
“It’s difficult for me to patrol the sidewalks in front of my
business,” he continues. “As far as the behavior and appearance of my
patrons, there are some civil rights issues there that I’d be stepping
on.”
Peterson points out that he has signed a good neighbor agreement
with the city. “I don’t sell cheap alcohol,” he says. “No 40-ouncers or
fortified wines, and I don’t sell Steel Reserve or Olde English 800. We
have age restriction equipment on our cash registers and check ID very
carefully, we don’t have any OLCC problems there.”
“I’ve heard rumors all this is coming from Brooks Brothers,”
Peterson continues. “But my manager down there indicates that Brooks
Brothers’ employees are some of my best customers. So it must be coming
from higher up.” (Brooks Brothers did not return a call for
comment.)
Peterson has written letters to all the city commissioners, and has
been trying to gain the support of Mike Kuykendall of the PBA in his
fight against eviction. But his complaints have fallen on deaf
ears.
“Maybe he should have worked with his retail neighbors and cleaned
up the neighborhood when he had the opportunity,” says Megan Doern, a
spokeswoman for the PBA. “It’s not the first time he’s been contacted
about his store.”
Doern adds that the forces behind Peterson’s eviction are “not just
Brooks Brothers,” but “the entire downtown retail council,” along with
the mayor’s office.
“It’s not about Brooks Brothers,” Doern continues. “It’s about the
type of clients [Peterson] has continued to attract and serve, and not
work with the Portland Police Bureau to report the problems, and
everything else that happens when there’s something wrong with the
store.”
The mayor’s office declined comment on the eviction, referring the
Mercury instead to the city’s Office of Management and
Finance.
“There were a number of complaints from neighbors about [the
store’s] clientele and the appearance of the store,” says Holuka, who
works in that office. “People would walk into Peterson’s and walk out
and engage in offensive activities such as public urination, people
indulging in drug use, and so on.”
Peterson says he now plans to send out a memo to the nine staff
members he’ll have to lay off when the store closes.