A sign in the window of the closed Nike store in Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Nike confirmed Friday it is permanently closing its flagship store on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

KOIN 6 News confirmed the closure on the afternoon of Sept. 8. The closure comes months after Nike requested a security partnership with the City of Portland because of crime in the area.

In February, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced he would increase patrols in the area as Nike re–opened the story. But the store at 2650 N.E. MLK Jr. Blvd. remained closed for months.

Nike officials told KOIN 6 News they are re-imagining its retail spaces and considering some future locations as part of a revitalization plan.

The news was first announced earlier in the afternoon by the Soul District Business Association that represents businesses in the area where the store is located.

“This news has landed like a lead balloon in our district,” Executive Director John Washington said in a Friday release. “We had all been holding our breath since last November when the store quietly shuttered its doors due to internal and external theft and safety issues. But, like so many of us riding out the fallout of the pandemic and protests, we held out hope that Nike, city officials and community leaders would recalibrate and realign order. But it looks like it’s game over.”

The release noted the store had been an anchor for the community for nearly 40 years.

“Retail, like all business sectors of our city, needs a better response from our City leaders than we have been getting,” Washington continued. “Our social service sectors have been disproportionately weighing down those who wake up every day to get on the grind to ensure their families, as well as our vulnerable communities, are being housed and fed. You simply have to invest as much into tax-paying entities as you do the non-tax-paying ones, or else our economic engines will sputter out.”

For Washington and others, part of the reimagining process must include a plan for what becomes of a soon-to-be shuttered half-block on Northeast MLK Jr. Blvd, the release said.

KOIN 6 News is a news partner of the Pamplin Media Group. Their full story can be found at koin.com.