PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Local retailer, Made in Oregon, is pleading for community members to be on the lookout for the company’s box truck after it was stolen just before Christmas.
According to Made in Oregon Vice President Verne Naito, the truck was stolen from the company’s north Portland warehouse just after 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve after they were trying to overcome last week’s ice storm to keep sales strong.
“What makes us unique is that everything inside this store is either made or designed in Oregon,” Naito said. “There’s certainly not the breadth of selection of Oregon-made products anywhere else.”
Because shipping products every day isn’t cheap, Naito said he does it himself.
“I mean we have alternatives but they’re going to cost us a lot more money,” Naito said –estimating that the stolen 2006 white Isuzu NPR saves around $200 a trip.
“We’ve been able to keep our price down because of our own pickups and then we deliver to our stores,” Naito said.
When the truck was stolen, it came as the store was trying to overcome the ice storm — freezing the end of the holiday shopping season.
“They weren’t going to be big deliveries, but they would have made a difference to our stores,” Naito said.
Naito hopes the portrait on the side of the truck, a view of Mt. Hood behind Trillium Lake, will be something people can recognize and will call police to help find it.
“Oregon is known for a lot of the natural beauty and the outdoor recreation,” Naito said. “Shooting Mt. Hood from a lake kind of says it all. Mt. Hood, mountain sports, mountain activities, climbing, hiking and then of course camping around Trillium Lake…that’s an iconic photograph.”
