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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2020)
Minority & Small Business Established in 1970 PO QR code Volume XLVIV • Number 22 ‘City of Roses’ www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • October 7, 2020 Committed to Cultural Diversity ‘We Know We Have a Future Here’ photo by d onovan s Mith /p ortland o bserver High quality products draw customers old and new to Cason’s Fine Meats, a Black-owned business that has cemented new ties to the community from its new location at the intersection Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Alberta Street. Casons serves up a legacy of quality photo by M ark W ashington /p ortland o bserver Journeyman butcher Theotis Cason (right) and his assistant Barry Williams welcome customers to Cason’s Fine Meats, the Black-owned retail store for locally-sourced high quality meats and hard-to-find Southern staples. Casons is situated among other minority and women-owned businesses in the new Alberta Commons complex at Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Alberta Street. by d onovan s Mith t he p ortland o bserver After a year at his new location, Theotis Cason feels at home. The owner of the self-titled “Cason’s Fine Meats” took a leap of faith, relocating his Kenton neighborhood-fa- vorite business to the newly built Alberta Commons retail space last year. The plaza, an effort to bring Black-cen- tered commerce back into the heart of Northeast Portland, is anchored by a mix of small and large retailers including Champions Barbershop, greenHaus Boutique and Gallery, as well as Wingstop and Natural Grocers among others. Despite the coronavirus, which has shuttered dozens of businesses throughout the city in recent months, Ca- son says after in his new location that business has been “decent.” “The community’s been real supportive,” he says, not- ing that a majority of his Kenton customers have followed him up to his new location at the busy corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Alberta Street. “We know that we have a future here.” Cason, and some of the other smaller retailers struck C ontinued on p age 4
