A Portland clothing company selling “social justice tees” has opened its first brick-and-mortar store in downtown Portland.
Mimi’s Fresh Tees owner Kamelah Adams began making and selling T-shirts online in 2018 after she says a substitute teacher at her son’s school accused him of hitting another child and wouldn’t believe him when the boy said a white classmate was responsible.
“I saw the need for people in the community, especially Black and brown folks, to be able to express the way they feel without uttering a word,” Adams told The Oregonian/OregonLive.com on Sunday. “That’s why I use my shirts as a billboard.”
Her first design was a cream-colored T-shirt with an outline of Africa surrounding the message, “Black history didn’t start with slavery.”
Now the company has its own brick-and-mortar store at 123 N.W. Second Ave., Suite 420 in Portland’s Old Town Chinatown neighborhood. Mimi’s Fresh Tees held its grand opening Saturday and will reopen for walk-in customers on Tuesday. Curbside pickup and online ordering are available via mimisfreshteespdx.com.
“In retail, you have to pivot,” Adams said. “And I noticed a decline in my online sales since the beginning of the year, especially last month. I think it’s because people are going to markets more, they’re not on their devices as often, which is nice. We want that connection again.”
Slow sales nearly closed Mimi’s Fresh Tees in the early days of the pandemic. That changed in May, when thousands of Portlanders began marching in protest of systemic racism and police brutality after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd. Rather than carry a sign, Mimi’s Fresh Tees allowed protesters looking to call attention to implicit bias to wear their messages on their sleeves. Soon, the company’s shirts, including a “Unity” T-shirt with a fist formed from words, including “justice,” “fairness” and “opportunity,” became a familiar sight at protests.
Mimi’s Fresh Tees also attracted the interest of the Portland Thorns, who helped Adams secure a $25,000 grant after beating their longtime rival, the OL Reign, in the National Women’s Soccer League Fall Series Final last fall.
“That’s pretty much the only reason I was able to (open the store),” Adams said of the grant, noting that customers have encouraged her to make the brick-and-mortar jump. “I just saw an Instagram message this morning, someone asking if they could shop at the store.”
-- Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell
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June 14, 2021 at 02:18AM
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Social justice T-shirt company opens new Portland store - OregonLive
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