Nestled in the heart of NW Portland for over 5 years now, Lizard Lounge is one of the city’s most stylish shops. We caught up with shop director Bob Davis last week to talk about fashion, retail, and why it’s good business to be involved with the community.
LIZARD LOUNGE
1323 NW Irving St.
Portland, OR 97209
www.lizardloungepdx.com
Describe a typical Lizard Lounge customer.
BOB DAVIS: “It’s pretty diverse, but it’s kind of like Portland itself. There’s an interesting mix of creative professionals. Wieden + Kennedy is just a little ways down [the street] so we get a crowd from there. We get a lot of industry people in here from Nike, Adidas, Columbia, all the apparel and footwear industries. They use us as sort of a test-case in retail spaces, so we get a lot of retail divisions and product development people in here looking at what we do and how we do it. And then we just get the average consumer in Portland which tends to be 25-40 active, creative-type people.”
How do you decide what brands to carry?
BD: “A lot of it is my own research and instinct as to what the trends are and how I want to interpret those trends in the store. For example, in the last 5 years there’s been a trend towards more of a heritage workwear look, and that in Portland has been the natural way to dress but the rest of the country has followed. So I targeted companies like Pendleton and Carhartt who exhibit that look and went after them to put together the mix in here. A lot of it’s also just from following blogs to get a sense of what’s going on.”
Would you consider Portland to be fashion-forward?
BD: “It depends on how it’s defined. Today I would say the answer is yes, but we do it in such a way that we don’t really try to be fashion-forward. When I spend time in New York and L.A. there’s a lot of effort that’s put into how you dress because in those big cities it defines you. So everyone’s looking at everyone else to see what they’ve got on and people put a lot of time and energy behind it. In Portland, people are much less concerned with being judged for how they look, and dress so it’s comfortable and suitable and works in the environment. Right now, it’s fashionable to look like us.”
How is Lizard Lounge involved in the community?
BD: “We try to get really involved as much as we can in the community not only because it is the right thing to do but it’s also good PR. We’ve been doing an event every First Thursday for 5 years. We bring in a live band, free beer, and an art exhibit that changes every month and have a charity that shows up and they get a percentage of the proceeds. We try to give back in everything we do. It’s just good business to be a part of the community.
What about local brands?
BD: “We try to carry brands that are local as much as possible. Craft, artisan brands like Tanner Goods and Harding & Wilson. With Shwood, not only was it a very interesting product, but they were local guys making it craft in a small place somewhere so it was really natural for us. We try to do that with any brand we can find that’s more local.”
