Talk:Pioneer Courthouse Square/Archive 4

Archive 1

Archive 2

Archive 3

Archive 4

Starbucks

I see no mention of the massive Starbucks which dominates Pioneer Courthouse Square from its NW corner. I was wondering the history of this Starbucks, the building and if it was controversial at the time of its construction. The Starbucks icon blares from every few feet of the storefront in this otherwise non-commercial public space. 71.236.173.98 (talk) 00:56, 15 December 2010 (UTC)

Just doing a small bit of research, the Pioneer Courthouse Square Starbucks dates to 1989. At the time, Starbucks had 39 outlets and none in Portland. Several other restaurants bid for the location, which had had two other restaurants that had failed since the square was built in 1984.

So basically it wasn't at all controversial at the time because "gourmet" coffee was a new idea and Starbucks wasn't Starbucks yet. You get that sense from the lede of the Oregonian article I found:

STARBUCKS GRABS SPOT IN PORTLAND COFFEE TRADE

Oregonian, The (Portland, OR) - Wednesday, August 23, 1989

Author: KEN HAMBURG - of the Oregonian Staff MARTY HUGHLEY of the Oregonian staff also contributed to this story

Starbucks Coffee Co. will serve up steaming cups of gourmet coffee and fresh pastries at Pioneer Courthouse Square starting Monday morning.

The restaurant location, vacant for several months, will be the first of three Starbucks outlets planned for the Portland area this year and is intended to showcase the Seattle-based company's products, according to Howard Shultz, president of the 18-year-old specialty coffee chain.

Specialty coffees make up only 9 percent of the $6 billion-a-year coffee industry, but Shultz said the sector is growing more than 20 percent a year, even though overall consumption of coffee is dropping.

Gourmet coffee stores are opening at the rate of one a day on the national level, according to Dave McCammon, president of the Coffee Merchant, which operates three stores in the Portland area. He said there should still be room for Starbucks in the hot Portland market, which already has more than two dozen specialty coffee retailers.

Shultz said Starbucks, which operates 39 outlets in the Seattle-Tacoma area; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Chicago, had been planning to enter the Portland market for more than a year.

...

Kind of an amusing read in retrospect. Hmm...I wonder if gourmet coffee will catch on? Anyway, it might be worth a mention in this article. --Esprqii (talk) 23:39, 15 December 2010 (UTC)

I have heard comments, such as a former head of the OHS, about Starbucks being there (as well as the new Director Park a block away). I don't know of anything printed, most of it is probably generic about how it helps fund the park. tedder (talk) 02:48, 16 December 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from 76.105.240.66, 3 May 2011

The weather machine ball is currently not working and has been broken for the last few months

76.105.240.66 (talk) 17:10, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Source? Is this really some news-making event? Wknight94 ^talk 17:21, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

That weird acoustic area thingie

That was always my favorite part of Pioneer Square- that little tiny area with the freak acoustics where you can hear yourself talk... I don't know what it' 'officially' called, but I'd like to add something to the article about that. Does anyone know more about this? There's random fragments of chatter online about it, but I'm having a hard time finding an appropriate ref. I KNOW there must be one out there somewhere but I'm just not using the right keywords, or whatever. Any help here? Spent a lot of time in that spot, as a kid. LoverOfArt (talk) 06:46, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Apparently it's officially called the "Echo Chamber" (that did take a bit of Googling). That's all I have time to do for now, but it seems I read more about it somewhere recently. But it could have been in one of those newfangled book things. Several people watch this page, I'm sure they'll be along shortly. Cheers, Valfontis (talk) 14:45, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Template for possible future Good topic

Pioneer Courthouse Square

3 articles

Allow Me (Portland, Oregon)

Weather Machine

In case I, or someone else, ever gets around to promoting Pioneer Courthouse Square to Good status. --Another Believer _(Talk) 19:02, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

History Section edit request

Please consider placing the quotation at the end of the paragraph in quotation marks:

• "It would be a shock ... to learn that a few power brokers have decreed that the result of the nationwide design rivalry is meaningless..."[6]

Thank you. 177.43.72.251 (talk) 22:07, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Needlessly blocked page

Banned editor has been blocked. See WP:RBI and the large orange box at the top in edit mode. Valfontis (talk) 16:02, 4 October 2015 (UTC)

Extended content

This page has been semi-protected for years. I feel that it is time to unprotect it. Can an admin please do so? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Friendlyman28 (talk • contribs) Do you have a specific change to propose? --Finngall talk 13:40, 29 September 2015 (UTC) Sir you seem to have misunderstood the point. This page has been semi-protected for literally YEARS, contrary to Wikipedia practice and policy. This page should clearly and unambiguously be unblocked. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Friendlyman28 (talk • contribs) 22:05, 30 September 2015 (UTC) Nope. Too much of the same obsessive vandalism in the past. Why don't you answer Finngall's question? NawlinWiki (talk) 14:22, 1 October 2015 (UTC) Nine years. This has been going on for nine years. I can't believe it. Oh wait, this is the Internet. I can well believe it. Check User:Pioneercourthouse for more delightfulness. Makaristos (talk) 16:38, 1 October 2015 (UTC) "Why don't you answer Finngall's question?": No I do not have anything to add to the article at this point. I just think that it is dumb to semi-protect a page for years and years and years and I respectfully believe it should be unblocked. I read through the history of this stupidity and I think that you should have tried to come to a better compromise on such a stupid issue, by the way. In any case, I don't appreciate the insinuation that I am a vandal. What evidence do you have that I am a vandal. What a great way to encourage a new user! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Friendlyman28 (talk • contribs) 20:17, 1 October 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

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