{Shopservations

What we saw

Full disclosure:

I brought my boyfriend with me because we thought it might be fun to check out the shops together.

I had no idea NR had rolly carts. I checked and they really do roll!

Although the ceilings aren’t too low because the store’s so huge, their height, along with their office building inset light style felt pretty warehousey.

Our first stop was

Nordstrom Rack.

It’s a strange entry with separate sets of doors on two almost edges of the same corner of the building.

The real shocker: Of all the places we went, including the modern Apple store, when I asked my boyfriend which he’d store he’d like his house to be like, he said the Rack! Because it was the lowest pressure!

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed the security entrance sensors before !

Fuego creeped me out

because it had my number. My boyfriend’s impression was: cluttered! My feeling was, ooo, pretty here, pretty there, pretty, cool, and interesting everywhere.

I can’t believe anything at Fuego is $149 !

Sloth animal in front of modern art piece. Totally unrelated. This is just how I decorate! Really pretty freaky. I feel so marketed to.

My boyfriend noted that they used vertical space and none of the other stores did.

The interior was cozy with an emphasis on warm wood tones. I felt invited and free to wander.

Only one store in the mall dared not to post it’s name above.

Apple.

I was surprised to find that our Apple store’s lighting looks like film sprocket holes!

The interior was minimalist when it came to product, but packed with employees...who were just milling around.

I also hadn’t realized that, like AT&T, Apple employs a fulltime, in uniform security officer. He wouldn’t let me take his picture. How had I missed him all this time?

Sunglass Hut

isn’t a shop either of us frequent….

They did have a rotating-brand central display, but beyond all that space, it felt……………unapproachable…………….

Their idea of impulse buys was eyeglass cleaner…. Not very exciting.This store struck me as conservative and doomed to fail, especially right after visiting Apple.

Neither of us had much of an impression of it. My boyfriend felt its vast emptiness made it unapproachable. I guess I felt like something should be going on in there.

The antiquey and out of place valances, the severely worn floors, and the about business attitude of the staff at

Bath & Body Works made it clear

enough to me that this business was in it for the very short term or at least needed a serious makeover.

It’s not really a shop, but then we headed to our favorite local

Japanese restaurant, Koji.

We’ve been coming here for years, but I noticed all sorts of things! There’s a shelf below the ceiling, The ceiling lights are spaced differently. The ceiling lights are recessed. The interior paint is dark peach and…dark ocean green! The display in the case on this counter is ALL sake! By this point, my boyfriend was done playing because it really was my homework, but I was having a blast!

But once we got outside, I was full and relaxed and forgot about observing, but my boyfriend didn’t. Look what he saw! A bank with…a crane inside it!! Those are two things you don’t normally put together! People were in the building working on it as we walked by.

After that, and this last part blew my mind, we saw three hotel security guys chasing a guy in a green Adidas jacket. Hot and heavy pursuit! I didn’t get a picture. I was too shocked. Things like this just don’t happen in Portland!! I’ve never seen it before. But…apparently they do. They ran right past us. Couldn’t miss it.

Crazy night! Thanks for making us get outside to look around and witness it.