Nationale

I love this place and could spend a bunch of time here peering through books & admiring the objects. Feels like an NYC or Montréal design shop. Excellent curated selects of Lapnam’s Quarterly, art and design books, art, jewellery and ceramics. Part gallery, part shop, I’m all in. A highlight during my short trip to PDX.

Good to see a place like this on Division.
Their lighting is too clinical.
I’m excited to see what they bring to the neighborhood though!
I hope they feature local community artists.

Entered the store, I was not greeted by the woman behind the counter. There was another person in the place.
Small space, and maybe a small apartment bathroom size for the actual showroom. The rest of the place is a store. Sort of.
The art, I would classify as abstract.
and the store, I would say is a bit on the snubby side. I tried their lotion and the woman behind the counter, finally paid attention to me, by saying loudly that their lotion are on the oily side, and that I should not touch the books.
Oh, really? What a weird experience. Left the store without looking at anything else.

I have followed this shop from its two locations on E Burnside, and now to Division.
A French woman curates this intimate shop and gallery. It is not baroque, it is modern.
It is a great place for French soaps, in particular the cubes that last ages in the shower. They are about 3 inches on a side, how many centimeters is that? There is also a selection of French hard candies. Locally made Olo scents and various lotions. In the Summer they often have inexpensive espadrilles.
The shop has a few hand made household items and a few pieces of jewelry. They have unusual books focused on art and culture as well as Apartamento Magazine.
They have a strong art gallery program too, with opening events every month or so. You can see the artists on their web site. The focus is young contemporary artists.
Nationale shares a building with Adorn, women’s fashion and House of Commons, a similarly well curated rotating store. They sometimes coordinate events.
Nationale is an elegant shop for modern goods with a French vibe. We like.