10 Best Shopping in Portland, Oregon

This once-dilapidated warehouse houses an upstairs workshop for makers of artisanal goods and an inspiring downstairs retail space where you'll find a carefully curated selection of lifestyle goods for every room in the home, many of them produced locally—some as local as upstairs. Among the treasures, look for warm and soft camp blankets and Navajo rugs with vibrant prints, women's jewelry in a variety of simple-but-beautiful styles, bath salts and soaps, and quite a few larger pieces of distinctive furniture.

Form meets function at this design boutique with a niche selection of clean-lined, modern goods and gifts for every room in the home. You'll find curvy thick-glass bowls, modern lamps with sheer paper shades, polished-stone trays, Bigelow natural-bristle toothbrushes, and Chemex coffee kettles, with some goods produced locally and exclusively for Canoe, and others imported from Asia and northern Europe.

This colorful marketplace set in a massive old warehouse building in the Central East Side brims with furniture, crafts, jewelry, men's and women's apparel, notebooks and journals, and apothecary goods from all over the world, but with an emphasis on Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Within the building, Cargo Emporium is a collection of local makers—Altar apparel, LGBTQ+- and feminist-focused Citizen Ruth art and jewelry, RX Letterpress, and many others.

This gallery walk the first Thursday of every month gives art appreciators a chance to check out new exhibits while enjoying music and wine. Typically, the galleries, which are largely located in the Pearl District, are open in the evening from 6 to 9, but hours vary. Be prepared for a lively scene including throngs of people, street musicians, and local art vendors, with much of the action along N.W. 13th Avenue between Hoyt and Kearney streets, which is pedestrian only during this event.

This gallery walk the first Thursday of every month gives art appreciators a chance to check out new exhibits while enjoying music, wine, and light appetizers. Typically the galleries, which are largely in the Pearl District, are open in the evening from 6 to 9. Beyond the galleries, you'll find a lively scene of street musicians, local art vendors, and food and craft beer stalls along N.W. 13th Avenue between Hoyt and Kearney Streets.

This popular clothing retailer is one of the Pacific Northwest's most defining trendsetters—a favorite of stylish locals who come for that cool, understated look (casual to dressy) that Portlanders are known for. You'll find made-here labels as well as European faves. Frances May also stocks jewelry, art books, housewares, and the city's own OLO Fragrances.

The Alberta Arts District hosts an arts walk on the last Thursday of each month. This quirky procession along 15 blocks of one of the city's favorite thoroughfares for browsing art galleries, distinctive boutiques, and hip bars and restaurants features street performers and buskers, crafts makers, and food vendors. During the three summer events, from June through August, the street is closed to traffic from 6 to 9 pm, and many more arts and crafts vendors show their work.

Running on Saturday mornings and early afternoons year-round, this astoundingly large and diverse farmers' market carries not only Oregon's bounty of flowers and produce (look especially for berries in summer and stone fruits in fall) but also hazelnuts, cheese, delectable baked goods, wines and ciders, and other goodies. It's great for people-watching and souvenir shopping, and several stalls sell great food to eat on-site—be sure to come hungry. If you can't make the Saturday market, check the website for locations of smaller but still very popular versions of the market, held most days during the warmer months at various locations around town.

The open-air Portland Saturday Market, which has been going strong since 1976 and runs from March to December on weekends (including Sunday, despite the name), is a favorite place to find one-of-a-kind, handcrafted home, garden, and clothing items—everything from T-shirts and souvenirs to high-quality sculptures and housewares. An impressive new pavilion, part of it covered, houses the more than 300 artisans. Don't confuse this crafts-oriented market with the equally popular Portland Farmers' Market.

Food writer Mark Bitterman (not to be confused with food writer Mark Bittman) knows a thing or two about salt—he's written popular books on the subject, and he's the James Beard Award–winning owner of this small purveyor of gourmet finishing salts, some of them smoked or infused with unusual flavors, like cherry and plums, or saffron. At this flagship location (there are others in Nob Hill and Hawthorne) you can also purchase the additional magical touches you might need to create the perfect dinner party, from Oregon and European wines and vermouths, to fresh-cut flowers, aromatic cocktail bitters, and high-quality, single-origin chocolates.