Nike has made the sobering decision to permanently close a long-standing community store in Portland, the city where the company was born. The sports apparel giant, often in the headlines for its social justice campaigns, confirms the closure comes in the wake of deteriorating public safety and an alarming uptick in retail theft.
Almost a year after announcing what was initially termed a ‘temporary’ closure, Nike confirmed the store’s fate in a statement earlier this month. The company had previously penned a letter to Portland’s then-Mayor Ted Wheeler, cautioning that “deteriorating public safety conditions and rapid escalation in retail theft” were significant factors behind the store’s shutdown.
While Nike had generously offered to employ off-duty Portland police officers to secure the premises, city officials were unable to meet this request due to an already stretched-thin police force—a lingering consequence of the city’s decision to cut law enforcement funding.
“Very disappointed,” was how Ted Wheeler described his reaction to the news, according to KGW. Wheeler, criticized for his tepid approach to tackling rising crime rates, could not deny the closure’s impact on the community.
Having been a fixture in Northeast Portland since 1984, this wasn’t just any store—it was Nike’s very first factory store. Over the years, its success led it to move into larger premises in 2000 and prompted the opening of similar community stores across the nation.
The closure represents yet another blow to Portland, which has seen a mass exodus of major retailers like REI, alongside the shuttering of its only two Walmart stores last year.
It’s hard not to connect the dots back to the city’s skyrocketing crime rates, further fueled by incidents like looting and vandalism during the George Floyd protests.
Even Nike employees, who were explicitly told not to physically intervene with shoplifters, witnessed the brazen nature of thefts. Thieves would walk out confidently, arms full of high-priced merchandise, seemingly unafraid of repercussions.
According to official police statistics, Portland’s crime rates are some of the worst in the nation, recording over 63,000 property thefts in the past year alone.
In 2020, Portland led the charge in the ill-advised “defund the police” movement, slashing $15 million from its law enforcement budget. Mayor Wheeler subsequently found himself making a desperate plea to restore the department’s funding in light of a disastrous spike in criminal activity.
Two years later, crime continues to blight the city. Despite new task forces, bolstered by additional deputy District Attorneys and investigators aimed at building and prosecuting cases, citizens remain unimpressed. Portland residents lambast city officials for their seeming apathy toward prosecuting criminals.
“It used to be a clean and safe city, one that we were proud to call home. Now, people are leaving in droves,” a sentiment echoed by residents, according to DailyMail.com.
Tents reappear hours after being dismantled, and businesses are grappling with the indignity of homelessness and public defecation at their storefronts.
Portland, once a haven for eclectic tastes and progressive ideals, now finds itself in a harrowing decline, burdened with rising taxes and inadequate city services.
The closure of Nike’s community store only reinforces the dire state of a democrat run city marred by mismanagement and deteriorating public safety.
