Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1975 |
Headquarters | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
Parent | Naito Corporation [1] |
Website | madeinoregon.com |
Made in Oregon is a private company founded in Portland, Oregon, United States in 1975 by Portland businessman Sam Naito. [2] The company is a gift retailer that specializes in Oregon-made products. It was originally owned by Norcrest China Company, an import business co-owned by Sam Naito and his brother Bill Naito, [2] until Norcrest was reorganized as H. Naito Corporation in 1992.
The first Made in Oregon store opened in 1975 in an 812-square-foot (75.4 m2) space at Portland International Airport, [2] and was one of the first retailers in what became the Oregon Market inside the airport. [3] The idea of offering products from one state was then a novelty; now the concept has been often copied. [2] The chain had expanded to 11 stores by 1989 [4] and had stores in 12 locations in 1998. [5]
As of 2024, Made in Oregon had 5 retail locations, including one location in Portland International Airport, three elsewhere in the Portland Metro Area, and one each in Eugene, Salem and Newport. [6] The company also has a mail-order catalog and an e-commerce website where it sells goods from more than 2,000 Oregon manufacturers and artisans. Products sold include food, clothing, jewelry, and arts and crafts. [2]
From 1997 until 2010, a lighted neon-and-bulb sign located atop the White Stag Building at 70 NW Couch Street in downtown Portland, facing the Burnside Bridge, advertised the company. In place since the 1940s, the sign is one of the identifying landmarks of Portland [7] and was designated a City of Portland Historic Landmark in 1977. [8] During the Christmas season, the nose of the deer glows red in imitation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. [9] [10] The sign was leased from Ramsay Signs by Made in Oregon owner H. Naito Corp. (formerly Norcrest China Co.). In 1996, Bob Naito, then vice president of H. Naito Corp., said the company had offered to buy the sign, but that Ramsay Signs was "unwilling to sell it." [11]
In September 2010, ownership of the sign passed from Ramsay to the City of Portland, [12] and in November the wording was changed from "Made in Oregon" to "Portland Oregon". [13]
Mill Ends Park is an extremely small urban park, consisting of one tree, located in the median strip of SW Naito Parkway next to Tom McCall Waterfront Park along the Willamette River near SW Taylor Street in the downtown core of Portland, Oregon, United States. The park is a small circle 2 ft (0.61 m) across, with a total area of 452 sq in (0.292 m2). It is the smallest park in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, which first granted it this recognition in 1971, though this title may be soon given to a 2022 park in Talent, Oregon, which is 78 sq in (500 cm2) smaller.
KATU is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside La Grande–licensed Univision affiliate KUNP. Both stations share studios on NE Sandy Boulevard in Portland, while KATU's transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands section of the city.
Bi-Mart is an employee-owned chain of retailers located in the western U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. A typical Bi-Mart houses merchandise includes electronics and small appliances, housewares, hardware and power tools, sporting goods, automotive, apparel, canned and packaged food, personal care products, and, through the end of 2021, a pharmacy at many locations. The median size of a Bi-Mart store is 31,000 square feet (2,900 m2). As of January 2023, there are 75 store locations. Like Costco and Sam's Club, Bi-Mart stores are membership stores; unlike those chains, its members-only policy started as a workaround to fair trade laws established in the United States in the 1930s such as the Miller-Tydings Act and those related to suggested retail prices. Membership for an entire family costs $5 and never expires.
KOIN is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Salem–licensed CW owned-and-operated station KRCW-TV. The two stations share studios in the basement of the KOIN Center skyscraper on Southwest Columbia Street in downtown Portland; KOIN's transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands neighborhood of the city.
KPTV is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Vancouver, Washington–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KPDX. Both stations share studios on NW Greenbrier Parkway in Beaverton, while KPTV's transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands section of Portland.
KPDX is a television station licensed to Vancouver, Washington, United States, serving the Portland, Oregon, area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is the only major commercial station in Portland that is licensed to the Washington side of the market.
Old Town Chinatown is the official Chinatown of the northwest section of Portland, Oregon. The Willamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from the Lloyd District and the Kerns and Buckman neighborhoods. It includes the Portland Skidmore/Old Town Historic District and the Portland New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been referred to as the "skid row" of Portland.
New Seasons Market is a chain of neighborhood grocery stores operating in the Portland, Oregon metro area, and southwestern Washington. Some of the products offered are organic and produced locally in the Pacific Northwest, but conventional groceries are also sold.
The National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) is a private university of naturopathic medicine, Classical Chinese medicine, and nutrition located in Portland, Oregon. The school has approximately 553 students.
Olds, Wortman & King, also known as Olds & King, was a department store in Portland, Oregon, United States, established under a different name in 1851 and becoming Olds & King in 1878, on its third change of ownership. The store was renamed Olds, Wortman & King in 1901; Olds & King again in 1944; and Rhodes in 1960. Moving several times within the downtown Portland area, the store settled at 10th & Morrison in 1910, in a large new building that remained in operation as a department store until 1974 and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 1976, the building has been known as The Galleria.
G.I. Joe's was a privately owned retail chain for sporting goods, ready-to-wear clothing, and auto parts; that operated stores in the Pacific Northwest region of the northwestern United States.
Thomas Howard Peterson was an American retailer, pitchman, and television personality from Portland, Oregon. Peterson opened his first store in 1964, which grew to a regional consumer electronics, home appliance, and furniture chain in the 1970s. His memorable television commercials and unusual promotions made him a widely recognized personality in the Portland area by the 1980s, leading to several cameo appearances in the films of Gus Van Sant.
Norm Thompson Outfitters was a privately owned catalog and internet retailer based in Middleton, Massachusetts that was previously based in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States until September 2016. The Norm Thompson offices were closed and consolidated due to Bluestem's acquisition of their parent company, Orchard Brands, in July 2015. Founded in 1949 by Norman A. (Norm) Thompson as a mail order business, it grew to annual sales of $200 million before it was sold to Golden Gate Capital Partners in 2006. The company sells clothing, gadgets, furniture, kitchen items, and gift items from its namesake catalog as well as from its Solutions and Sahalie brands. John Difrancesco serves as president and chief executive of the 500 employee company.
The White Stag sign, also known as the "Portland Oregon" sign, is a lighted neon-and-incandescent-bulb sign located atop the White Stag Building, at 70 NW Couch Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States, facing the Burnside Bridge. The sign faces westbound traffic as it enters downtown Portland coming across the Willamette River. The sign was acquired by the City of Portland in September 2010, and the lettering was changed to read "Portland Oregon" in November 2010.
White Stag is an in-store brand of women's clothing and accessories sold by Walmart. Founded as a skiwear manufacturer in Portland, Oregon, the company was purchased by the Warnaco Group in 1966, which in turn sold the brand to Wal-Mart in 2003.
William Sumio Naito was an American businessman, civic leader and philanthropist in Portland, Oregon, U.S. He was an enthusiastic advocate for investment in downtown Portland, both private and public, and is widely credited for helping to reverse a decline in the area in the 1970s through acquiring and renovating derelict or aging buildings and encouraging others to invest in downtown and the central city.
Montgomery Park is an office building and former Montgomery Ward mail-order catalog warehouse and department store located in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1920. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under its historic name Montgomery Ward & Company Building. The building is located on property once used for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, of 1905. It was occupied by Montgomery Ward from 1920 until 1985, although the majority of the company's operations at this location ended in 1982. After the U.S. Bancorp Tower and the Wells Fargo Center, the building is the third-largest office building in Portland with 756,055 square feet (70,239.8 m2).
The Holt–Saylor–Liberto House is a house located in southwest Portland, Oregon, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was added to the register in 1978. Earlier, it was designated a Portland Historic Landmark by the city's Historic Landmarks Commission, in October 1977.
The Merchant Hotel, also known as the Merchants' Hotel, is a historic former hotel building in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is located at 121 N.W. Second Avenue in Old Town Chinatown. It is a contributing property in the Portland Skidmore/Old Town Historic District, which was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1977. It is one of the few remaining examples of Victorian Italianate, cast iron architecture on the West Coast. It occupies half of a city block, specifically along the south side of N.W. Davis Street from Second to Third Avenues.
Naito Parkway is a major thoroughfare of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was formerly known as Front Avenue and Front Street and was renamed in 1996 to honor Bill Naito. It runs between SW Barbur Boulevard and NW Front Avenue, and adjacent to Tom McCall Waterfront Park through Downtown Portland.