Margulis Jewelers Closing After 90 Years, Another Downtown Loss

PORTLAND, OR — "Portland has experienced the perfect storm of adversity and independent businesses simply cannot withstand the economic forces which have caused the deterioration and resulting emptiness of downtown Portland."

That's what jeweler David Margulis wrote to his customers on March 3.

He was letting them know that come June, his store will be shutting its doors after 90 years downtown.

"It was never our plan to close our doos," he wrote, adding that there is a "general sense of nighttime lawlessness.

"The perception of the people is that there's just a broken downtown, and people don't want to come downtown. Our city has done too little, too late to help downtown and independent merchants."

The store first opened downtown in 1932 and was run by David's father until 1985 when David took over.

In the past two years, the situation downtown has deteriorated, a combination of COVID-19, the increasing number of people living on the street, and violence related to crime and protests.

"I can clearly see that the quality of the downtown work experience has deteriorated," Alexandra Etheridge, a resident who works as an associate director of the United States Geological Survey told the city council last month.

She added that people feel that "there is imminent danger and the risk of severe injury or death."

That council hearing came just days after The Portland Business Alliance released a survey showing that:

• 88% of voters say that quality of life is getting worse – up from 49% in 2017.
• 62% of voters say the Portland region is headed on the wrong track – up from only 26% in 2017.
• Voters overwhelmingly support requiring people currently living outside to sleep in shelters or designated camping areas.