Northwest Portland Grocery City Market Is Closing After 28 Years

Co-owner Kaie Wellman says the closure is partially related to the proliferation of other high-end grocers in the area and Portland in general.

IMAGE: Visitor7 / Wiki Commons.
By Matthew Singer

City Market NW, the upscale grocery that has served the Nob Hill neighborhood for almost three decades, is closing for good.

The owners have decided not to renew their lease, and the store's last day of operation will be Aug. 18, Portland Monthly first reported.

Opened in 1991 at the corner of NW Johnson and 21st Avenue, City Market hosts several vendors, including Pastaworks, Chop Butchery, Raw Raw Raw Produce and the 129-year-old Newman's Fish Company.

Pastaworks co-owner Kaie Wellman, who also holds the lease to City Market along with Kevin DeGarmo, told Portland Monthly that the closure is partially related to the proliferation of other high-end grocers in the area and Portland in general.

"The challenge," she said, "is to do what we do, to create special experiences, to stay vibrant and relevant while competing every day against the multitudes of New Seasons, Whole Foods, Markets of Choice and online shopping."

It's a move that seemed to be coming for several years. Pastaworks closed its original location on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard in 2015 and moved into the similarly-modeled Providore Fine Foods on Northeast Sandy Boulevard. In the Portland Monthly article, Wellman also hinted at the possibility of a new venture on the westside.

Chop has already partnered with Raw Raw Raw Produce to open a new deli counter in St. Johns, while Newman's did not divulge its next step.

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