Retail Theft Forces Nike to Permanently Close Beloved Portland Location

As theft and crime continue to wreak havoc in the retail industry, another big-name company has announced it will close a once-cherished location.

Last week, Nike announced that it would permanently close its factory store in Portland, Oregon, due to ongoing theft. The Portland factory store first closed in October 2022, with no official statement aside from a message on the store’s website stating “closed for the next 7 days.” However, the store has remained closed and now, the company said it will shut its doors permanently.

“Nike’s commitment to supporting and uplifting Portland’s North and Northeast community is unwavering,” Nike said in a statement to The Street. “We are reimagining Nike’s retail space, permanently closing our current location at 2650 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and considering future locations as part of this community’s long-term revitalization plan.”

The store, which had been open since 1984, had a dedicated following among locals.

“It’s very disappointing,” Portland community leader Ron Herndon told KGW-TV. “I wish we could have had a different outcome.”

Rampant theft had been an ongoing problem for the athletic brand’s Portland store and, in 2022, a KGW-TV analysis found that Nike’s factory store had the second-highest rate of reported shoplifting incidents since 2019, behind Target.

^{The now-permanently closed Nike factory store on 2650 NE Martin Luther King Jr. in Portland, Oregon. Google Maps.}

In addition to the Nike factory store, several other businesses in Portland have been affected by theft. In March, Walmart announced that it would be closing its remaining two stores in Portland and, in April, REI said it would close its storefront in the city’s Pearl District by next year.

“Last year, REI Portland had its highest number of break-ins and thefts in two decades, despite actions to provide extra security,” the company said in an email to REI members in April. “In recent years, Portland has been dealing with increased crime in our neighborhood and beyond.”

Meanwhile, across the rest of the country, some big-box retailers have either closed up shop or taken new security measures in stores for similar reasons. Since 2019, 92 retailers have closed up shop in San Francisco’s Union Square area, according to The San Francisco Standard.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/nike-closes-beloved-portland-store-due-to-crime/458921