Gift shop closed for fire-related remodeling

Rusty Rae/News-Register##James Tate, owner of NW Food and Gifts, stacks a box of wine Monday as the shop clears out all items in preparation for restoration of floors after damage from the May 2023 fire that gutted 3rd Street Pizza next door. Assisting Tate are, from left, Jorge Serrato, Juan Gomez, and Kayla Carlson. The store will reopen on Monday, Jan. 22, and Tate plans a celebration on Friday, Jan. 26.

NW Food & Gifts, 445 N.E. Third St., will be closed through Jan. 21 to finish up remodeling made necessary by last May’s fire in the Third Street Pizza building next door.

Owner James Tate said his crew needs to remove everything from the store, from wine to gift items to jewelry, for the project. They remodelers can lay down new gray-on-gray abstract carpet, paint the walls light gray and do other tasks.

“It’s a huge undertaking,” Tate said, estimated that his shop contains 50,000 to 100,000 separate items, many created by local vendors.

Still, he said, he’s looking forward to having a new look for the store. “It’s an opportunity” as well as a pain, he said.

NW Food & Gifts suffered smoke damage when an early-morning fire broke out in the alley at the rear of Third Street Pizza. The blaze heavily damaged the pizza place and its Moonlight Theater; reconstruction is underway, and owners Al and Meagan Whitaker hope to reopen in June.

The gift store will reopen Monday, Jan. 22, with a “welcome back” celebration on Friday, Jan. 26.

While NW Food & Gifts is closed, its companion business, NW Cru, will remain open for wine tasting. Thursday through Sundays, Cru will pour wines usually featured at NW Food & Gifts as well as its own collection of vintages.

The gift shop’s website also will be closed through the 21st.

For more information, call the shop, at 503-434-6111.