A downtown Portland sneaker and streetwear mainstay is permanently closing its doors after 21 years, striking a blow to the city’s sneaker culture.
Compound Gallery shared the news of its closure in an Instagram post earlier this month, thanking the city for “bringing us so much joy” over the years.
“It’s challenging to find the words to express how grateful we are, how much we’ve appreciated being able to serve the Portland community for the past 21 years, and the impact that so many of you have had on our lives,” the brand wrote. Its final day is on Friday, March 31.
Compound Gallery opened in 2002 on the corner of Northwest Fifth Avenue and Couch Street in Old Town. Its founder and owner, Katsu Tanaka, originally started it with a vision for a bi-level gallery combined with a Japanese-themed toy and DVD rental store.
Tanaka eventually branched out into streetwear and collectible footwear, transforming Compound Gallery into a pioneering sneaker boutiques.
In addition to popular streetwear brands, rare kicks, collectible toys and Japanese novelty items, the shop doubled as a gallery dedicated to showcasing new art and artists every month.
Compound Gallery would go on to drop collaborations with the likes of Nike, Adidas and Stussy. Compound also held pop-up shops for brands including Undefeated, The Hundreds and G-Shock, and hosted art shows for world-renowned graffiti artists like Stash and Futura.
The collabs and understanding of street culture attracted a dedicated fanbase, bringing artists, sneakerheads and general foot traffic to a neighborhood that had been struggling with boarded-up storefronts and street crime.
Store manager Miles Maxwell Miller said he first learned about Compound Gallery as a kid growing up in Vancouver. He said Compound was unique because it sold streetwear, limited-edition sneakers and statement pieces.
“As someone who was into skateboarding, clothing and shoes growing up around Portland, it was kind of hard not to know about Compound,” he said.
During the shop’s heyday in the early 2000s, Miller said, Compound Gallery was frequented by Nike CEO Mark Parker and John Jay, former executive creative director at Wieden+Kennedy, Nike’s ad agency.
In 2019, after 18 years in Old Town, Compound Gallery announced plans to move into new a street-level retail space in a city-owned parking structure at Southwest 10th Avenue and Yamhill Street — with the help of a subsidy from Prosper Portland, the city’s economic development agency, Willamette Week reported at the time. According to the news outlet, Tanaka decided to move out of the area because his lease was up and was frustrated over repeated break-ins and thefts.
But Compound Gallery’s transition into the new spot in the West End neighborhood would take three years to complete, only moving into its current location last May, according to Miller. He said the onset of the pandemic and other construction delays forced the business to operate in a temporary space on Southwest 10th Avenue for three years.
It’s unclear why Compound Gallery has decided to leave the new space after only 10 months, and Tanaka was not available for comment. But Miller said the past few years have opened his eyes to the challenges of running a retail business, especially with inflation, slimmer profit margins due to higher supply chain costs and crimes.
Tanaka, meanwhile, launched a separate business – Kiriko Made – catering to a very different audience. The brand takes traditional Japanese fabrics and repurposes them into modern fashion items.
Miller said Tanaka started Kiriko in 2013 as an online retailer and began dividing his time between that and Compound Gallery. He said Tanaka became virtually absent from the sneaker boutique once Kiriko’s brick and mortar store opened in June 2021. The new store sits directly across the street from Compound Gallery.
For Miller, Compound Gallery created an experience for the Portland streetwear community that expanded beyond retail. It was a space that nurtured those interested in the streetwear industry and it provided a space for people to share something that they’re passionate about.
“What I want people’s perception of streetwear to be defined by is their life experiences and the things that they’ve seen and been through, as well as the subcultures that they’ve been exposed to,” Miller said. “There are reasons why I think streetwear is so beautiful. To me, it’s a way of self-expression, and it’s always true to itself.”
Many of Compound’s former employees have gone on to work for Nike, Adidas and other brands, or pursue creative businesses, he said.
Some of its final employees said they plan to do the same.
Adrian Resquer said he plans to launch a clothing brand that embraces his Filipino American roots. Meanwhile, Malak Mechlaoui has already started his own online retail store that sells a curated collection of consigned vintage streetwear, jackets, sneakers and art prints, which local shoppers can browse in-person in a by-appointment-only showroom located within the Fine Arts Building at Southwest Morrison Street and 10th Avenue.
–Kristine de Leon; kdeleon@oregonian.com