USA. The first concessions in a local brand-dominated programme of 24 new shops and restaurants have opened at Portland International Airport. It follows the first-phase completion of a US$2.15 billion main terminal redevelopment.
The transformed one million square feet terminal (which includes more than 37,000sq ft of retail and F&B space) has been redesigned with around double its original footprint. Wood materials are featured heavily throughout.
The aim for operator Port of Portland was to introduce a sense of the famed Oregon landscape, driven by planting dozens of large trees and eventually more than 5,000 live plants.
The new terminal will enable the airport to double its annual passenger capacity to 35 million, a target the airport company aims to achieve by 2045. Portland Airport served 16.5 million passengers last year.
Ten food & beverage venues and retail stores have opened for business. They, like the 14 other concessions that will open by the time the second phase of redevelopment is completed in 2026, have strong links to the city of Portland or the wider Oregon state. About 60% will be operated by women- or minority-owned businesses.
Port of Portland noted: “Everything about Portland International Airport’s new main terminal is a reflection of the Pacific Northwest, from the local timber and people that built it, to the shops inside.”
The F&B venues already opened in the extended terminal include cafés from Blue Star Donuts, Portland Coffee Roasters (first of two venues) and Stumpdown Coffee Roasters, The Country Cat restaurant, pasta specialist Grassa and beer hall/restaurant Loyal Legion.
On the retail side, Hello from Portland (local gifts), Missionary Chocolates, Orox Leather Co., Paper Epiphanies (cards and stationery) and Pendleton (wool clothing) have commenced trading.
Meanwhile, Columbia Sportswear, Portland Gear (local-themed clothing), Powell’s Books, Steven Smith Teakmaker (tea-related gifts), the Freeland Spirits bar and Straightaway Cocktails are opening temporary pop-up stores ahead of moving into permanent spaces in early 2026.
Three more F&B units from Capers Bistro, Oven and Shaker (bar and pizza restaurant) and Sizzle Pie (pizzeria) will open in the terminal this autumn.
The line-up of local brands will be completed in 2026 by Kure Superfoods (cold-pressed juices, smoothies and grain bowls), Lola’s Café and Pilot House Distilling (seafood and cocktails).
Port of Portland Executive Director Curtis Robinhold said: “Our focus throughout this entire project was: How do we reflect the pride and love we all have for the region, in the new PDX? And that question drove every decision. To work with locally-owned small businesses using local materials, to fill the new PDX with local art and shops from our favourite neighbourhoods.
“It was a lot of local love for the Pacific Northwest that made it all happen.” 
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