Skip to main contentEast Burnside has seen its fair share of revolving retail doors, but it has emerged a fixed shopping/hang-out destination in its own right. Amid the edgy, artfully-curated boutiques that orbit the Doug Fir, another interesting shop is on its much-anticipated way. Stand Up Comedy (811 E Burnside St., Suite 119, 233-3382), scheduled to open in June, is the collaborative creation of Rachel Silberstein and Diana Kim. The shop is a hybrid of eclectic men's and women's wear and a "general store" of accessories, art objects, printed matter, bootleg artist videos, etc, etc., in addition to store exclusives and collaborations, such as one with Werkplaats Typographie out of Holland.
Kim endearingly calls the feel of the space "like a low-rent detective's office," which they plan to keep aesthetically looking overall, while still adding movable fixtures to revamp the place a bit. Having met in Minneapolis in a tap dance class, and following primarily contemporary art fields (Kim, a Portland native, was a performance curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and Silberstein was the showroom manager for Slow and Steady Wins the Race in New York) prior to starting Stand Up, they eventually wanted to both find a way to work for themselves. "We started to feel really stifled by the reflexivity of the whole scene," Kim explains. "What started out as a means of opening up the world eventually started to feel very empty and insular, and we finally got up the guts to quit our jobs and see if we could make the shop happen."
(Left, April 77's Spring/Summer 2007 Collection)
As for the East Burnside digs, Kim admits that at first they were "leery of the fact that it's not directly on the street, and kinda tucked away in the back corner." But she has since realized that she "likes the fact that a person has to hunt for us a bit." Surrounded by a host of some of Portland's other hip boutiques (Denwave, Redux, Bombshell Vintage, Ivy Studio, etc.), Stand Up will be hawking a variety of collections found nowhere else locally: dancehall, White Stripes-inspired separates by April 77, girly, cinched cuts by Staerk, modern, richly-hued totes by Cerre and geometric, mix and match pieces by Slow and Steady Wins The Race.
When it comes down to the whole retail vibe, Silberstein and Kim share a similar objective. "We're pretty keen on wanting people that visit the shop to have a fun experience. We're trying to balance the somewhat serious nature of many of our lines with some levity," Kim explains. "Expect the odd comedy styling to pop up time and again. I'd like a person who visits to feel as though they saw something different, or had a new idea, or (dare I say it) felt exhilarated, even if they didn't buy anything. Plus we encourage just hanging out and looking at stuff on You Tube."
http://www.shopstandingup.us (4/1/07 launch)
WWeek 2015