Many do not know the Portland has an iconic carpet. PDX Next and airport officials announced today that the iconic carpet that has been the source of thousands of selfies, pics and memes for years is coming back. The much-loved, and distinct patterned carpet will be featured in the arrivals area of the new main terminal when it opens in 2024.
The carpet, one of the most popular features of PDX, was originally installed in 1988 by The Port of Portland. According to PDX Next, almost every square inch of it was replaced 30 years later when it started to wear so bad crews were using markers to color bare spots. The Port of Portland hired SRG Partnership to design and install flooring that would reduce the amount of noise created by travelers clomping across the airport’s cement walkways.
The revamped terminal, scheduled to open in 2024, will feature the green carpet design with the distinctive blue and purple X pattern in the meet-and-greet area outside security exits, as well as a few other locations that airport staff are keeping under wraps. The geometric design, mostly removed and replaced in 2015, represents symbols that air-traffic controllers see on their video terminals at night.
The pattern can still be found on products throughout Portland, including T-shirts, key chains packaging for chocolate bars, dog bandanas, socks and vintage sneakers. “Until we talked about changing it, people only ever complained about the carpet,” says the Port of Portland’s Kama Simonds.
Movie and TV crews filming at the airport usually wanted to cover up the pattern. The pattern, which was not trademarked, popped up on everything from socks to coffee mugs to soccer scarves, online and at local boutiques. Social media was flooded with commemorative images of feet on the carpet itself. National media pounced on yet another example of marketable Portland weirdness.
“It was win-win,” says Kevin Harrison, store manager at Milwaukie’s Carpet Mill Outlet, which turned 1,000 square yards of PDX carpet into frameable one-foot squares and so, so many two-by-three-foot floor mats.
Randy Schultze, co-owner of Nagl Floor Covering, credits his daughter-in-law and son with hipping the Aurora-based company to the carpet opportunity. “It went better than expected,” he says of their project, which included luggage tags, coasters, alphabet letters, and die-cut state-of-Oregon shapes—some items are still available at the Aurora showroom. Local design company Two Dogs in a Boat warned the carpet might be “a little stained, faded, or beat up” in its doormats, magazine racks, and sling-back chairs. The frenzy has died down, but Harrison and Schultze say they still get the occasional inquiry.
