PORTLAND, Ore. — With Christmas fast approaching, many shoppers are scrambling to find that perfect holiday gift for family and friends. For those people that pass by Pioneer Square in downtown Portland, stopping in at one of the Portland holiday pop-ups is a great way to shop local.
The program, which is a partnership with Downtown Portland Clean and Safe, gives small businesses the opportunity to set up shop in November and December in an area of Portland that sees plenty of pedestrian traffic.
"Visibility, visibility is the biggest thing," said Trent Barry. "I'm able to get it in front of people so they can see it and know it, I've got the windows out there so people can come in and say, 'How do you pronounce it? Akepele, OK.' It looks great, I like it — it looks really good in here."
Barry owns Akepele Apparel. The business is typically online-only, but the pop-up location near Pioneer Square has given Barry the opportunity to showcase his work to people that normally wouldn’t see it.
"I've been able to get the brand in front of a lot of people, and to receive their feedback has been really important to me," Barry said.
Kristen Martin owns a premium dog treat food truck in town, but her pop-up downtown is the company's first-ever brick and mortar location.
"We were super excited to try out a brick and mortar, and it's been really good," Martin said. "People have been really excited, and the community has had a great response."
KGW spoke with some shoppers who came away from Martin's shop with some tasty looking treats for their pups.
"We got him an empanada-looking cookie, and puppy bowl cookies, very yummy looking," Rachel Morales said. "I'm sure Sigg will destroy them later."
So far, shop owners and customers alike — not to mention the pets — said they are finding the pop-up experiment to be a good experience.
"It's opening my eyes to a whole new world of business potential," Martin said.