Nike is reportedly closing one of its stores in Portland, Oregon, due to rising crime and security issues.
According to the Soul District Business Association, Nike had said that the footwear company would be closing the store and “reimagining” the retail space “as part of this community’s long term revitalization plan.”
The association called the closure “a major economic blow” for the community. The store, located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, had already been closed for most of the year.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said on Friday that the city had attempted to work with Nike to deter the company from closing the story by easing its “safety challenges.”
“My team and city staff have worked tirelessly and in good faith with Nike for almost a year to offer creative solutions to their safety challenges,” Wheeler said in a statement. “Ultimately, the City cannot offer Nike, or any other private business, with dedicated off-duty PPB officers due to PPB’s staffing shortage. I remain committed to supporting Nike’s future success in Portland and look forward to their future investments in our community.”
The community store is the latest business to leave the city amid crime and rampant homelessness. According to a report from last month, Portland lost $1 billion between 2020 and 2021 as residents fled the city due to such issues.
“Most big cities saw a return of their residents after 2020. Portland did not,” said Portland trial attorney Kristin Olson . “What differentiates Portland from other big cities in the U.S. is that we have an enormous homelessness and fentanyl addiction epidemic and extremely high taxes for these same issues that paradoxically only seem to worsen the very problems they’re supposed to solve.”
Portland is also one of the cities across the U.S. where retail theft has increased, leaving both major and small business owners feeling abandoned by lawmakers who they claim have done little to help solve the issue.
“Retail theft is not a victimless crime, and its increasing prevalence means greater danger for store employees and higher costs for law-abiding Americans,” Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said. “Store owners are not only confronted with traditional shoplifting but increasingly with highly organized criminal gangs who seek to profit by taking advantage of gaps in the law.”
