Columbia Sportswear

Nice selection, nice people, great place.

Since Portland was cold enough to freeze your tauntaun before you reach the first marker, I stopped in for a wind-​resistant fleece. Natalie was very helpful in showing me the options and she honored the 10% off Unilocal check-​in special. Thanks downtown Portland Columbia store!

I went there a couple of days ago and I liked it. They have good clothes, nice people, lots of colors on clothes and durable! I asked for help on buying shoes and they helped alot. The streets outside are busy. Be careful!

Great place for outdoor loot. Very reasonable price and excellent quality. Everything I’ve purchased has lasted me for years. Outlet store is great but limited in selection. All the employees are extremely friendly & knowledgable. Plus it’s a Portland based store!

Shopping here was a pretty annoying experience. At first, I thought the first person who came over was great– he was asking great questions about what we were looking for and was super helpful. Then I was down in the women’s coats area actually looking at a rack of coats when a woman came and started pulling coats off the rack literally right in front of me. It really took me off guard– and I thought it was really rude. Then it turns out that she was an employee getting coats to help someone. She actually came over and apologized for practically pushing me out of the way. It was really bizarre. She helped me a little after that odd exchange. Then I could hear her and the first nice guy who helped us– talking about who was going to get credit for helping us… Like a misunderstanding about who had dibbs on us as customers.
The whole experience was a close call between helping, hovering, and feeling like they were really watching every move I made.
I found a jacket and didn’t want to buy it so I could think about it first– but now I feel like I don’t want to go back there. Very odd.

Went here today to get a rain jacket because in my two weeks here I’ve already gotten soaked while walking my dog in the rain at times. I browsed some of their coats online. When I went in there were two very helpful sales associates who both directed me to the section I needed to be looking in and recommend a coat/​jacket to fit my needs. I cannot complain and the coat by the way is gorgeous and flattering to boot. When I looked it up online after getting home the jacket I bought was a color that wasn’t available online, so double happy I made the effort going in. Parking of course is a mess but it’s downtown. There’s a parking garage with validation for nordstrom’s costumers just right around the corner.

Soooo much good stuff in here, they have something for everyone, and even some items you never knew you needed!
The quality of their clothing is great & I love the fabrics they use! The selection was great, and the store is really big!

Went in late last night with an odd request. I had bought a coat last spring and the pockets had suddenly starting tearing on both sides with some kind of weird adhesive holding them together.
I knew I could mail it into the warranty people, but I didn’t want to be without a raincoat in Portland for the entire month of December, so I thought I’d ask at the store if I could swap it out for a similar item. The staff was INCREDIBLY helpful. A younger guy named Christian, who was extraordinarily friendly, showed me all my options, explained everything wonderfully, and then his manager, Robin, took over the transaction. She wasn’t the friendliest, but I really can’t complain, as they took my coat and I walked out with a totally brand new coat. She even wrote off the 10 dollar price differential I was ready to pay for.
Way to stand behind your products, Columbia! Thanks!

An extra 10% off on top of the after Christmas sales price? Yes, please!!!

I have had good experiences here. Friendly staff, but not pushy. When they could not help me find what I was looking for, they gave me advice about other locations to go to. Good return policy. Prices a little high, but you get what you pay for.

Yay! Awesome experience! The staff was completely incredible… I felt like a princess shopping because they met every single demand I had. I finally found a pair of Sorels I’ve been hunting for the last few weeks and at a huge discount from the other shops I’ve checked out. Aaron was super friendly and was able to make a ton of suggestions for jackets and other clothing items I was browsing for. I couldn’t have asked for a better shopping experience! They even offered to ship my purchases since I was traveling! I couldn’t have asked for more!

I’m biased, I admit. I was born in Oregon. I think the clothes here are A’s good if not better than North Face and definitely cheaper. Selection was great and since it was across the street from my hotel, it was convenient. I’m a loyal Columbia customer.

I set out to find some shirts. I know what I’m looking for, but I’m in the wrong decade and maybe the wrong town. I’m looking for the shirts John Coltrane and Stanley Turrentine wore in the sixties. Silk, loose, cut flat on the bottom. I know, I know… but I can’t pay $ 160 a pop for shirts — I’m a working man, so it’s a reasonably priced «close enough» shirt that I’m after.
I’m looking in all of the expensive places along Broadway — nothing. I found wrinkled and faded Pakistani cotton shirts in plaid and gingham for guys who want to look like Howdy Doody of Karachi. I found shirts with skulls and dragons and claws. I found shirts with the brand name stenciled in graffiti on the chest. I found shirts on the racks with their buttons on the floor, but I didn’t find what I was looking for.
I stopped into Columbia Sportswear not because I expected them to carry Savoy loungewear, but because I had actually started thinking about buying a sewing machine and some patterns and making my own shirts — it was hot out, and I wasn’t thinking clearly.
It’s a very flashy store. I have a Columbia Titanium parka and I’ve been really happy with it over the decade I been wearing it, but the selection of shirts was depressing. They had a couple of microfiber jobs — plain, short sleeve, cut flat across the bottom — definitely close enough. They had twelve of them in small — that’s it!
I asked the sales kid how they pay the rent on that place only selling to small people, and he says they were bringing the winter stuff in and that’s all they had left of the summer stuff. It’s 90 degrees out, and they’re bringing in the winter stuff! Watch for my next review: The Sewing Machine Palace.

This 2 story «Flagship» store has lots of selection and friendly staff who are there to help and only if you need it. Unfortunately, I didn’t find what I was looking for and ended up next door at Mountain Hardwear. But since Columbia Sportswear owns that company too, I guess there was no escape for me in terms of my contribution to their Corporate bottom line.
Columbia Sportswear also has a nice store at PDX (just outside Security) and they contribute field clothing to Mercy Corps, an international poverty-​related NGO. I like their stuff and maybe during the next visit, time, circumstance, and a good sale will come together.

Great location downtown and very friendly staff — not pushy at all! The guy that helped us (I wish I could remember his name!) was very helpful.
We had little to no gear for the activities we had planned for our trip to Mt. Hood that week, and he really took the time to explain the pants we were looking at, and also gave us tips as to where we should go as first time snowboarders!
Their selection was OK — not a lot on the sale racks, but I did get a pair of regular priced snow pants. I tried to look for a print that was «fun» and not the usual black or white… ended up with a navy/​gray pant with multicolor squiggles… not as fun as I hoped, but I still enjoyed my experience here!

Convenient location.
OK selection. I always expect a little more, but since I’m rarely in the snow, this place will do. I wish they had a bigger sale selection, but I’m sure they send most of last season’s line to outlet stores.
Great service. The sales reps are always super friendly and helpful, but not over the top. I hate when I get followed around while I shop.
The cleanest bathroom in downtown Portland. It was located on the top level, near the dressing rooms, and behind the door labeled Electrical Room, so I assume no one goes in there unless they really have to. Score!

Totally did not intend to go shopping while I was in Portland for a conference. But, after passing by Columbia and learning more about the fierce owner I ended up buying myself a brand new jacket. I think I probably stood out among all the other customers because for some reason every single staff person was trying to assist me or at least offering to help me with anything and everything. Anyway, I walked out of the store knowing a little bit more about this family run, family owned business and the fierceness of the woman who has been running it since her husband passed away. Yay for independent businesses especially in this economy.

Nice, large, location — and pretty quiet when we were there (about a month ago). The staff there were helpful, and not pushy. That said, their selection was iffy. I really had to pick around to find things I liked — and I managed to find a shirt I loved. But they didn’t have a medium. In fact, they only had a couple shirts at all — for a downtown huge location, flagship of a major company, it was a little surprising. That was the case for a couple other things I was looking at. But I did manage to find another shirt I liked.
It’s a tad on the spendy side as well — nicely made gear, hit and miss styles/​colors. Preferred the outlet shops.

Being familiar with the dowdy image of Columbia (compared to high-​hype gear like Arcteryx and Mountain Hardware), I walked into the company’s store with little to no expectations. I was surprized! Their summer line was in stock and the stuff is far from the the stodgy plaid cotton and washed cotton-​canvas that I’d expected. I estimate at least half of the collection was built with bright colors (in nice combinations) and high tech fabrics. Service was first rate also — always available and attentive. I’ll be sure to stop by the next time I’m in town.

Need fishing gear?
Want an über technincal snow jacket?
Columbia’s technology is great, but style is SOOOOOOO lacking.