UPDATE: Nike to renovate, reopen downtown Portland store; move to Pioneer Place will be temporary
New building permit filings suggest Nike plans to build out a two-level space at Pioneer Place mall in downtown Portland.
A permit application first spotted by Portland development watcher Iain MacKenzie suggests that Nike would occupy remodeled space spanning two floors at the downtown mall located at 700 S.W. Fifth Ave. The application was submitted to the city on Wednesday.
The permit proposes to demolish walls to build a sales area, fitting rooms, stockroom, bathrooms, closets, a sitting room, a back of house area and breakroom, among other features associated with a new storefront.
It’s unclear what the Washington County company’s plans are for its nearby downtown Nike store, located just across the street from Pioneer Place at 638 S.W. Fifth Ave. Nike did not respond to a call or email for comment or confirmation of their plans.
The company opened its current downtown Portland store in 2011, replacing the NikeTown retail store that was at the corner of Southwest Sixth Avenue and Salmon Street. NikeTown Portland, which had opened in 1990, once served as much as a museum and showcase for the sportswear company as it did a retailing hotspot.
Nike’s historically been a wholesale business, but since 2017 it’s been focused on growing direct and digital sales. Since then, the number of non-outlet Nike stores in the U.S. increased from 34 to 74, according to annual reports.
On the company’s most recent earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Matt Friend spoke bullishly about Nike’s stores as more consumers returned to in-person shopping. For the quarter that ended Aug. 31, Nike’s sales increased 2%, but sales in Nike stores increased 12%.
“Our stores delivered an especially strong quarter,” Friend said, “with traffic up double digits from last year and members driving an increasing share of our business as consumers shifted from our digital to physical channels.”
The Portland Nike store, given its proximity to the company’s world headquarters, has been used to test new products and services, including new features on the company’s shopping apps.
The apparel and footwear giant announced in September that it would permanently close its Nike community store in Northeast Portland. The store had been mostly closed to the public since last year, and Nike had asked the city to detail off-duty officers to guard the store. The city declined, instead offering to increase patrols in the area.
--Kristine de Leon, kdeleon@oregonian.com ; Matthew Kish, mkish@oregonian.com