In 1952, Modern Age Gift Centers changed its name to Northwest Trading Company and moved out of Hide’s basement to 612 NW Davis.  It was the company’s first foray into Old Town.  That same year, H. Naito Company Gift Shop opened on 916 SW Morrison.

In 1955, H. Naito Company Gift Shop became Northwest Trading Company at the 916 SW Morrison location, taking a decidedly less Japanese name.

In 1956, the newly-named Norcrest China Company wholesale import business moved to the Fleischner-Mayer building at 115 NW First Avenue.

At the same time, Northwest Trading Company gift store reverted back to H. Naito & Company.

In 1992, Norcrest China Company became H. Naito Corporation, in honor of Hide.

By that time, Norcrest was importing from 20 different factories in Japan and 10 factories in England (for its bone china) and selling its goods nationwide.

Hide, Sam, and Bill would go overseas at various times during the year.

To look in on the factories outside Nagoya,

Where small Japanese families and companies made the goods,

To attend trade shows, 

And to meet with their agents, who looked for goods around Asia that the company should import.

The trips overseas often included trips to India, where the company purchased its brass goods and incense for Import Plaza.

In October1960, Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko of Japan visited Oregon, and, in particular, Lloyd Center.  It had opened on August 1st to much fanfare, claiming to be the largest mall in the country.  The Crown Prince and Princess visited Naito Gifts, which, by that time, had its second location in the mall.

In 1961, Naito Gifts, Inc. opened a second location in the new Lloyd Center Mall.

Some time around 1964, the Naitos opened another Import Plaza store, also in Lloyd Center.

In its time, the Globe Hotel had 500 open air cots, barely separated from each other and covered by chicken wire.  (The chicken wire was there to prevent any patrons from throwing empty booze bottles over their “walls” onto other sleeping customers.)  It cost only 50 cents a night to get a “room”.  By the 1960s, the entire area was known as Skid Row (Road) and was largely populated by drunken vagrants.  Initially, the Naitos thought that it would only take some sandblasting and painting to make the building palatable,  but that turned out to be just the beginning.

When the Naitos bought the Globe, with the intent to start a retail import shop, even the realtor said they were “fools” for thinking they could have a successful store in skid road.  Bill remembered that “they told me that upperclass women would never cross Burnside to shop.”  Instead, Import Plaza was “an instant success”, and it exhibited the Naitos tirelessly faith in the beauty and resilience of Old Town in particular and Portland at large.  In fact, there were so many customers that the fire department was constantly complaining that there were too many people in the space, creating a fire hazard.

The Naitos had an in-house artist who designed all of their advertising, and Sam wrote the text.

Sam traveled the world seeking new and different products both for Norcrest and Import Plaza. While primarily relying on Japan for Norcrest China’s goods, Sam visited Thailand, India, Greece, the Middle East (including Tehran, Iran and Bagdad, Iraq), Egypt, and England.

Airplane travel was in its infancy when he began his extensive travelling, and he was going to places that weren’t frequently visited.  That meant having to deal with terrible plane connections and a certain amount of unknowns.

On his first trip to India, he booked a hotel room in the only local hotel for Westerners.  But when he arrived, he discovered that the hotel had rented out his room to someone else.  The hotel arranged for a taxi to take him to another, and what he assumed would be a, suitable hotel.  Instead, he wound up in Old Dehli, in a dirty hotel next to a brass factory that was pounding through the night.

Norcrest’s top selling item ever was the BK102 fuzzy bunny.  Dick Lenhart discovered it on one of his 41 buying trips overseas.  Originally, it was just a figurine, which did not excite the Naitos much.  But then Dick suggested that they convert it to a piggy bank, and Norcrest sold over a million of them.  Part of its charm was its realistic look as well as how it was displayed, with fake grass and a little, short, white fence.

Daisy Kingdom, a local fabric store, occupied a street-level space for several years until it outgrew them.  That Naitos replaced it with a Christmas-themed store named The Nutcracker, which was successful for several years.

In 1967, the Naitos opened another gift store, called Flair, in Lloyd Center.  The store was Don Pendergrass’ idea, and it featured Scandinavian china and giftware.  It was a fine gifts shop, where customers bought nice weddings gifts.  Several years later, a second Flair was opened in Washington Square.

Eventually, Flair became Sou-Flair, which specialized in kitchenwares.

How Sweet It Is

Another store the Naitos had a candy store for a time, both in Lloyd Center and at the Portland Airport.

In October of 1975, the Naitos opened a new store at the Portland Airport, Made In Oregon, which only sold product made, caught or grown in Oregon.  The idea originated when Sam sought to open a store like Naito Gifts in the airport but was rejected because there was already a similar store operating there.  He offered to come up with something different in order to get the space; so, Sam, Bill, and Don Pendergrass came up with the idea of Made in Oregon. 

P&C Construction built the store, and Governor Bob Straub was there to celebrate its opening.  Don Pendergrass went on to manage the store.

By 1980, Made In Oregon had two shops at the airport (one in each concourse) and a store in every major mall (Lloyd Center, Washington Square, Clackamas Town Center, and the Galleria). Because of the number of stores, the shops needed large volumes of products – products that were being made by small, local artisans.  Linda Strand remembered being in constant contact with vendors, urging them to produce more faster.

By 1980, Made In Oregon had two shops at the airport (one in each concourse) and a store in every major mall (Lloyd Center, Washington Square, Clackamas Town Center, and the Galleria). Because of the number of stores, the shops needed large volumes of products – products that were being made by small, local artisans.  Linda Strand remembered being in constant contact with vendors, urging them to produce more faster.

By 1990, Made In Oregon sold the goods of 1,400 local producers.  Robert Buchanan, then director of the state Economic Development Department, said that Made In Oregon had “really nurtured small businesses.”

Jantzen, the Store

It was Jantzen’s first foray into retail, with the Naitos running the store and Jantzen providing the merchandise and marketing advice. It opened in 1992 at the Galleria, with a party benefitting SOLV (Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism).  Jantzen held its national swimsuit fashion show, featuring Naomi Campbell as one of the models. 

Oregon Trail Store

In 1993, Oregon celebrated its 150th Anniversary, and Made In Oregon sold the official products, including t-shirts, pins, covered wagons, maps, and food.