This July marks the 20 year anniversary of Floating World Comics, and also 4 years at Lloyd Center Mall, which is closing next month. When I moved the shop here in 2022, the city was still in post-pandemic recovery mode. The Lloyd Arts District was a thing we made up with Musique Plastique and Dreem Street. It really caught on. We were looking for things to do in person again, and the mall became an unlikely home for… so much cool stuff that’s happened over the past 4 years… all centered around the city’s only year round ice skating rink. This mall experiment ended up being the most fun I’ve had with the store.
I started looking at spaces at Pioneer Place Mall almost a year ago. I approached them with the concept that other shops from Lloyd Center would also be looking for a new home, and we could continue building the ‘community mall’ or ‘indie mall’, whatever you want to call it, of small businesses that breathe new life into the space, revitalizing its original purpose in exciting and vital ways. They liked what we were doing at Lloyd and were supportive of keeping that energy going. You’ll see some other familiar faces from Lloyd also moving to Pioneer, and, I hope, other businesses that weren’t able to get a space at Lloyd will be a good fit at Pioneer. We’re looking forward to joining the community at Pioneer and seeing what grows there. And it’s exciting to move back downtown! Where it all started.
Our last day at Lloyd is Saturday, August 8th. Then we reopen on Wednesday, August 12th for New Comics Day at Pioneer Place. Gravy Toys will be there too.
Enter the mall on 4th and Morrison, then we’re in the basement concourse level, in the middle of the hallway next to Din Tai Fung. Right on the Max line (technically under it, the shop is under the street somewhere). The best parking is the Smart Park garage on 4th and Yamhill, take the elevator down and it puts you into the mall at the food court. Once again, Elevator Teeth came through with designs and graphics for the new space.
Floating World Comics
340 SW Morrison, STE 1300
Portland, OR 97204
