This is a fun store to browse and look for fun gift ideas. They carry lots of video game…read morecharacters, anime', Pokémon misc last minute gifts. They have hello kitty stuffies and household items to name a few. It's worth a stop you never know what you will find.

If you are looking for a taste of Japan without the flight, this shop is a must-visit! They offer…read morean incredible selection of Japanese merchandise that covers a little bit of everything. Whether you're looking for unique snacks and drinks, trading cards, or anime characters and plushies, they have you covered. I was also impressed by their non-hobby items; they carry beautiful posters, tea, authentic tea sets, and various kitchenware that you won't find at your typical big-box store. It's the perfect place to find a unique gift or to stock up on your favorite imported treats. The staff is friendly and welcoming, which makes browsing the packed shelves a great experience. Just a heads-up: the parking lot is shared with Trader Joe's and several other shops, so it stays very busy and can be a bit of a scramble to find a spot. Despite the parking hustle, it's a fantastic local gem for any Japanophile!

LOVE this bookstore!! It has such a good selection of books in Japanese and English too! It is so…read morefun to look around in and prices aren't terrible, they're pretty standard. Staff is super friendly too! I'll definitely come back if I get the chance!!!

I'm not the target audience for this store, but I stopped by when shopping for a gift…read more Located off Director's Park, in the historic Guild Theater. It's cool that they kept the sign but it is a little hard to realize this is now the Kinokuniya. They've got a wide array of items - including movies and books/manga, pens and stationary, stickers and charms, mystery boxes of various kinds, items related to popular media, decor, etc. It's fairly narrow aisles and a lot to look at. They have another location in Beaverton.

What a fun place in downtown Portland if you are an anime lover! It has a lot of curated, cute,…read moreand fun merchandise and still has the fun Portland vibe because there were 3 of the sweetest dogs that come up to greet you. Lots of interesting finds here, more heavy on the Pokemon side - as they even have special curated cards. Also it's really nice that they have an upstairs lounge area where they have a spot with some free snacks and just is nice place to chill. Also the service was very friendly and informative, especially on some of their high end curated Pokemon cards.

A cute store to shop at especially if you love Pokémon!…read more When I first visited this store, the first thing that caught my eye was the huge and inflatable Eevee outside the store. It was super cute and fun to take pictures with. The store staff locks the door from the outside, so you have to flag down a staff member to let you in. I thought that was strange, but I realized they are probably doing that for anti-theft purposes since they do carry a lot of expensive items. Walking-in, I was amazed with the décor and selection. It was like I was walking through a store from Japan itself. There was a good variety of items with stuff from the Pokémon company to stuff created by small business owners. I ended up getting 4 Pokémon prints to hang in my room that were created by a small business owner. They had a deal for buy 3 get 1 free, so I could not refuse especially since the prints were so cute. I liked how they had deals like that for a lot of things. When I checked out, they even gave me a free custom sticker. My only critique is the prices. The prices are generally on the higher side for both the imported and custom made goods and this is coming from someone from LA. The 3 prints I bought totaled to around $45 which a bit high. Overall, a good experience here. I would come back if I had some extra money to spend.

I decided to stop by Clackamas Town Center a week ago after turning in some old paint at the…read moreTransfer Station (a fancy way to say Dump), but I digress.... I picked up some new workout clothes at Dick's Sporting Goods, and got some clearance price stuff at Vol Com, not really my brand, but pretty cool stuff. I still wasn't satisfied so i decided to walk around a bit and see what the place had to offer. Lots of interesting shops. Checked out Na Hoku Hawaiian Jewelry (see review on YELP), then I found Miniso. This is basically a Japanese store on steroids. There was all kinds of licensed products. Everything from Harry Potter (more British than Japanese), to Powerpuff Girls (sadly I did not see any Mojo Jojo stuff). My basic thought was,"Wow, I am sure to find something my daughter will like in here." Now that is my sworn task, to get my soon to be 13 year old daughter a present and leave her speechless...to be continued.

Fun store for collectors and kids…read more It was my first time popping in to this store, and I was so pleasantly surprised to hear K-pop playing while browsing this fun store. Gosh, this place reminds me of Sanrio + Daiso. They have all sorts of fun collectibles: Disney, Pokemon, super Mario, hello Kitty, Powder Puff Girls, Harry Potter, BT21...! Small snack and skincare section. Mystery boxes and little collectibles series figurines. Harry Potter was going for 30% off and BT21 items in one section were on sale. I snagged two BT21 lunch tupperware for $8 each! It comes with a fork and spoon too. Because the HP items were on sale too, my daughter got a new stackable lunchbox for $6! I noticed collector items can be very popular and pricey. This Donald Duck series was sold out, so I bought the next best Donald Duck thing for $25. It's tiny but cute. My daughter loves Donald. This store is a hit with the kids. It's a great place to find gifts. The woman at checkout is friendly and signed me up for a rewards account.

Staying right by the Muji store was honestly one of the highlights of my visit to Portland. This is…read morethe only remaining Muji store on the west coast! There used to be several Muji locations in California, but they all closed due to the downturn in business from COVID and expensive leases. I visited this Muji store 4 times in as many days, wandering through to admire all the beautifully made and practical household goods and also trying to figure out what I could fit in my carry-on suitcase for my return trip. This store is huge, but nicely laid out. The sections are clearly marked from travel goods to clothing to personal care to household items to furniture to stationary. And there are plenty of staff milling about, restocking and folding, who can help you if you are looking for a particular item. The store wasn't very busy on weekday afternoons and evenings, but I noticed that it got a lot of foot traffic on Saturday. And on the hot weekend that I was in Portland, it was also very nice to step inside the air conditioned environs for a rest. They were also handing out samples of some of the snacks! Prices are reasonable for the quality of the products. I will definitely be back the next time I'm in Portland!

We stopped by Muji spontaneously while walking around nearby. I was excited to see a location in…read morePDX and was eager to browse around. I will say the store layout was a bit interesting, with some areas that felt more cramped. It was fairly crowded when we went, so I did have to squeeze by people to make my way through the store. I spent some time browsing the clothing section and found several items that caught my eye. The clearance section was a bit disorganized and the sizes were not labeled clearly unfortunately. Customer service at Muji was friendly and adequate. The staff working in the fitting room area were especially helpful. It would've been great to have more fitting rooms available, as the line moved slowly and took up a good chunk of time. You are also limited to bringing in 5 items at a time but you can swap out items as needed. I ended up purchasing multiple tops and a few pants for everyday wear. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to browse the homewares section but was pretty satisfied with my clothing purchases and shopping experience. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.

The Washington Square is a giant mall, about 20 minutes away from downtown Portland. It has several…read morehundred stores including popular brands like Aritzia, H&M, Tumi, Pandora, VS, A&F, Hollister, Coach, Pottery Barn and lots more. There's an Apple Store here as well. There are departmental store like JC Penny, Macy's, Nordstrom and a huge Dick's store. Few other unique places to me were Din Tai Fung and 85C Bakery Cafe. It's popular destination for tourists' shopping since there's no sales tax. The common spaces are wide, clean and have lots of open sky windows. There are plenty of sitting spots available as well for guests. We were in the mall for about 5 hours. We shopped in the Lego store, Tumi, VS, Dick's, 85C Bakery, and BoxLunch. We had friendly interactions from staff members in the all the stores. We also went to the food court on second floor, which was underwhelming compared to rest of the mall. The dining space had old tiles on the floor, the chair and tables were basic ones. There were 10-12 stores available offering a variety of cuisines. The food was decent from couple of stores we tried. Prices were little bit expensive. Overall we had wonderful half day spent shopping and dining at this mall. There was a good mix of popular and luxurious brands, offering wide range of products. The food court could use some facelift to match with rest of the wonderful interior of the mall.

Great mall 20 mins away from downtown Portland. Many fashion stores, shoes, sports wear, high end…read morebrands and restaurants. They also have a food court at 2nd floor. It's clean, bright, spacious inside. I feel comfortable walking around not crowded. Overall staff were nice at all the stores we went in. The price can range depends on what store you walk in.

I adore this place, they always have such good prices and really unique stuff! Their staff has…read morealways been pleasant and I've never felt stressed out by them shopping there. They restock their selection constantly and I'm always finding new and interesting things, a ton of cat-related items which is so cute! They'll be closing at the end of June but that's still a month out so go while you can if you want to find some real treasures!

Very nice lady there and a good deal. Awesome! Found some…read moregood things there. Nice selection good value. Love the 50% off some items.

I have been shopping at Kids at Heart when I come to Portland on business for quite some time. I…read moredid again this weekend. I have experienced a pattern of somewhat unfriendly behavior by some staff working at this store before, but really thought nothing of it until a recent experience both in their store and outside of. I will add however that not all employees here can be blamed for the actions of others. I also just happened to attend a birthday party early Sunday evening for my daughter's friend. Another individual was there, who coincidentally owns a retail store in the same area as Kids At Heart, and was explaining after the party to a few of us how he bought some Needoh there and how he was texting other parents ahead of this party that they could find them there too. He went on to say that days later, the owner of Kids at Heart barges in to his store during business hours, in front of his own customers, and accuses him or buying Needoh from her store and selling them at his. Mind you, he is showing us video footage from his phone to back up how outlandish the Kids At Heart owners behavior was and I watched in confusion because he tried calmly explaining to her that it was simply coincidence and she didn't seem to care. What was tacky was how she had no visual proof of her claim, only some he said-she said story, then started going off about prices of items in his store and on his website while shouting some type of action against his store. I could only wonder if she was there for more competitive or territorial reasons, but then I would be guilty of assumption as well. This behavior was all over an extremely popular $5-$15 toy sold at hundreds of other stores, which I see listed on Walmart and Amazon for $30-45. Many of the parents have had to drive around for weeks hunting for these things in preparation of the party, time was running out, and this other business owner kinda saved the day for us by making sure every kid (and some parents) at this party had a Needoh, or ones to gift, so everyone could have the same experience as the birthday girl. The picture I took at this party with one of the same Needoh styles this man purchased from Kids at Heart (and other stores too) kinda proves my point because they clearly ended up at a personal event, not in his store. After hearing this story and seeing proof to back it up, I was shocked by the owner of Kids At Heart and her behavior. I am not one to typically review retail stores and I was not asked to leave this review by anyone involved, but I certainly felt it needed to be done since the owner of Kids At Heart acted in such a hostile way towards another business that supported them. Overall, my experience this weekend combined with the above - I now choose to look elsewhere for children's gifts (and so will a handful of other parents).

If you're looking for Jelly Cats, this is the place to be. They have a ton of cute and soft…read morestuffies. I use to come here as a kid while I adventured down Hawthorne with my sister. I had very fond memories of this spot. I have taken my nieces here many times and I can tell this spot will also hold a special place in their hearts. Theres a ton of toys and they are really good at rotating out their merchandise. There's a lot of toys that will appeal to a variety of age groups. Sometimes they can be on the pricier side, but nonetheless a very fun spot to take the kiddos. There's a variety of fun charms too for the children to build their own charm bracelets. This is an activity my nieces enjoy every time we come by. The staff here are always so friendly and patient with the kids as well.

We enjoy the visits, and this has been our go-to spot for birthday gift-giving for our kids'…read morefriends. The staff are helpful, friendly, and great at gift wrapping. The prices are reasonable and selection is much cooler/more educational than your department stores. Very glad to have this business in our community!

Piccolo Mondo is a good toy store with a great selection. Prices are ok. Staff is helpful and…read morefriendly.

What a dream bookstore for book lovers indeed! Founded in 1971, Powell's is such a Portland staple,…read moreand this location in the Pearl District is ginormous. You can seriously spend hours perusing all the books and choosing your next read, coffee table book, or whatever your heart desires. My favorite section of the bookstore hands down was the Rare Book Room, a special temperature and humidity-controlled room filled with some of the coolest books I have ever laid eyes on. And yes, they are for sale! To me, the room felt alive as I stood in the presence of historical literature, just as when I stand in the presence of great artifacts at a museum. Access to the Rare Book Room is granted as long as you grab a pass, and no food, drink, or unpaid books/merchandise is allowed inside. You can spend as long as you like (as long as it's not crowded in the room), and there is also a staff member present to answer any questions you may have. Of course I had to purchase a book from Powell's, called Freeway Birding, San Francisco to Seattle (it was even signed)! As an avid birdwatcher, this was the perfect book to add to my ever-expanding library. I also grabbed one of their wooden postcards and a couple of stickers to commemorate our time spent at this amazing bookstore. While the entire store was bustling, even on a weekday in August, take your time at Powell's and get swept away by any and all genres of literature that call to you. You never know what you may find next.

Powell's City of Books is kind of a must for any book lover! Whenever I visit a city, I try to…read morefind a local bookstore, and I knew before we even arrived that I had to check out Powell's. It was within walking distance of our hotel in the Pearl District, so we didn't need to contend with parking. It's overwhelming at first - I had heard of how large it was, but you don't quite get the scope until you start walking through - here are books and people everywhere you look! You can just wander, or make a plan of attack and strategically try to visit every corner of the store. We kind of did a combination of both, and started at the top floor and worked our way back down to ground level. The prices are typical of an independent book store, but they had a nice selection of used books and some great value books to snap up, too. There is literally something for everyone. There are lots of local authors and books set in the region. There are bookmarks around each info station with suggested/popular reads for each section of the store. There was a nice selection of local and bookish items and gifts, too - totes, t-shirts, postcards, stickers, etc. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. I'll be stopping in any time I'm in Portland!