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Seeing the PDX carpet being pulled out of the airport was sad. Having the PDX carpet rolled up and affixed with googly eyes to serve as grand marshal for the Starlight Parade was cute. Ha ha, you might have thought, our city council has something like a sense of humor.
Then came the inevitable: People slapped the pattern on T-shirts, coffee cups and even their own bodies. Okay, nostalgia, we get it.
And now City Liquidators is selling new pieces of furniture upholstered with PDX carpet. [Insert your emoji emotional response here.]
Emma Pelett, also known as "Jet Set Pelett," buyer and the daughter of the owner of City Liquidators and Miss Oregon 2014, secured the carpet for the furniture. She told us that on Aug. 29 the store will hold a release event for its new line of PDX carpet-related things, including locally made sitting cubes (?), benches, rugs in multiple sizes, carpet squares, ornaments, magnets, welcome mats, fanny packs and messenger bags, all made from authentic, trod-upon PDX carpet. Benches range in price $329 to $399, come in eight different styles and the store will be rolling them out between now and the end of September.
When coming off a long international flight, many were comforted by that familiar geometric pattern. You may have felt forced to take the obligatory âfeet selfie.â You may have just felt a little more at ease, like seeing your dog barking in the window when you pull into the driveway after work.
Seeing the carpet wrapped around some bench or footrest, however, is like coming home to your dog dead, stuffed, staring through hollow, glass eyes and grinning through a lifeless doggy smile.
Is it possible this whole thing is getting into the territory of obsessive and fetishistic? Then again, maybe that's what Portland is best at. Either way, the good money is on all the PDX carpet fanny packs selling out before Christmas.
WWeek 2015