Currie Person likes Spartan Shop to constantly evolve. Take the pandemic: Person closed the brick-and-mortar location in Portland, Oregon, for 16 months and emerged with a new vision, moving away from her original concept for “an elevated general store” to become a hybrid showroom and gallery.

Located in a 1923 bottling facility–turned–airy shop in the city’s Central Eastside Industrial District, the minimalist space features concrete floors covered with glossy white paint to match the window-lined walls.

Porcelain vessels dripping with textural glaze and wildly colorful glass vases sit atop sculptural tables placed in careful arrangements near contemporary chairs and couches to show how each piece—some designed locally, others by international brands like Lambert & Fils and De Sede—might appear in a living space.

“We’re reimagining the shape of the space all the time, depending on what comes in and what goes out,” says Person. “We wanted to have a lot of flexibility to respond to how pieces should be shown.”

Person extends that sense of flexibility to many of the designers she works with, among them Portland-based makers such as Campagna, Matthew Philip Williams, Lilith Rockett, Fieldwork Design, and Dina No. Instead of taking things on consignment, Person will commit to buying whole collections, giving the makers the financial freedom to grow or even “get a little weirder,” she says, adding: “We’re really focused on showing different artists in their own right, and then sort of tracking their evolutions.”

Spartan Shop’s Regional Recommendations

Small Galatea Pendant by Iacoli & McAllister

Extra Large Epiphany Vase #30 by BaleFire Glass

Mezo Stool by Vince Skelly

Labyrinth Table by Erich Ginder

Porthole Shelving System 2X5 by Phloem Studio

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