Japanese outdoor apparel and accessories retailer Snow Peak opened its US flagship and headquarters along Portland’s tony Northwest 23rd Avenue.
By Lauren Mang
After a few pandemic-related delays, high-end outdoor apparel and accessories retailer Snow Peak finally opened the doors to its 15,000-square-foot Portland flagship and US headquarters in September.
The Japanese brand, which had operated a much smaller store in Portland’s Pearl District since 1999, partnered with Portland-based Skylab Architecture on the Northwest 23rd Avenue location. The flagship comprises two levels of retail and office space, as well as the ground-floor restaurant and bar, Takibi—complete with an 1,800-square-foot patio—that’s set to open in 2021. The building’s design is rooted in an earthy palette that includes dark stone, wood floors, and Douglas fir timbers salvaged from a demolished warehouse in Portland’s Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood. Tents, grills, and other outdoor gear are displayed on the store’s second floor, where shoppers can touch and test the products. At the store’s entrance is a two-story, hand-drawn mural by Seattle-based artist and designer Shogo Ota, who depicted Snow Peak’s founder, Yukio Yamai, kneeling before Mount Tanigawa in the retailer’s home prefecture of Niigata, Japan.
“Snow Peak has long held that time spent outdoors with others is restorative to the human spirit, and an antidote to the stresses of modern life,” says Matt Liddle, chief operating officer for Snow Peak USA. “As COVID-19 emerged as one of the defining crises of our generation, time outside with a small group of loved ones provides the moments of respite so many are longing for.”
Images: Wyatt Coxen