Exercise equipment companies: Gyms have struggled to stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic as public health restrictions have forced them to close or greatly limit capacity, and customers have become wary of exercising indoors, in public spaces. Instead, consumers have turned to home fitness products and bicycles to get their exercise fix. Sales of bikes, equipment and repair services exploded after the start of the coronavirus pandemic and were up more than 60% in June, according to the NPD Group, a market research company. However, local retailers have struggled to get in enough bikes to meet the demand. Home fitness product sellers have seen sales explode as well. After having its worst year in 2019, Vancouver-based Nautilus enjoyed a huge 152% increase in sales in its third quarter.
Home improvement and garden stores: While many retailers were forced to close in March, Gov. Kate Brown allowed garden, hardware and home improvement stores to stay open. Those stores saw an immediate uptick in demand as interest in home improvement projects skyrocketed with more people staying home. Sales at those stores are up 13.4% this year as compared to 2019, according to the Commerce Department. Bret Brantner, owner of Mr. Plywood, a hardware and lumber store in Southeast Portland said in May that his store was as busy as ever, and he often had a line of people waiting outside to get in as the store limited capacity for safety reasons.
Hardest Hit
Aviation: Passenger volumes at Portland International Airport plunged 95% in April, the first full month of the pandemic, as air travel ground to a near complete halt. Planes that did fly were largely empty, devastating the airline industry. Travel picked up steadily as the year went on but remained down two-thirds from a year ago. The fallout extended across industries, with Boeing and Portland-based industrial manufacturer Precision Castparts cutting 40% of its jobs worldwide as orders for new aircraft evaporated.
Restaurants: Oregon’s restaurant sector laid-off two thirds of its workers last spring in the first days of the pandemic, 47,000 people altogether. Many of those jobs returned over the summer as outdoor dining picked up, only to vanish again as the state ordered an end to most dine-in service amid a resurgent coronavirus. Many of Portland’s best-known restaurants, among them Beast, Toro Bravo and Pok Pok, are closed for good. Scores of others closed, too, from beloved neighborhood haunts like the Cheese Bar on Mount Tabor to popular food carts. The city’s renowned dining scene has been profoundly diminished – and it could be years before it rebounds.