With no sales tax of any kind, Oregon is a great place to loosen the purse strings and do some shopping. The state isn’t known for anything in particular except its fantastic wines, food products, and local crafts. In most tourist towns you can expect to find a refreshingly original selection of shops, with chain retailers taking a back seat to the myriad local boutiques preferred by residents.
Portland is easily the best city for shopping adventures in Oregon. Its diverse neighborhoods are peppered with all kinds of shops so you never know what you’ll find around the next corner. Readers won’t want to miss spending an afternoon wandering the three floors of Powell’s City of Books, most likely the planet’s biggest book store covering an entire city block. Antiques are another great buy in Portland’s Westmoreland/Sellwood district or the two big antiques malls along Milwaukie Avenue.
Oregon is a very crafty place, with artists and artisans drawn to the raw beauty and like-minded communities here. Most towns will have a few little boutiques showcasing the local talent, while Portland’s huge Saturday Market is a marvelous venue for craft hunting. Any other day of the week, you can browse the streets around Pioneer Courthouse Square and the Nob Hill, Northwest, Pearl, and Hawthorne districts. The options are diverse and expansive.
Other towns in Oregon such as Bandon and Ashland are known for their art communities. If you are traveling through the Willamette Valley, keep an eye out for good prices on wine at the dozens of wineries and wine shops in the region.