PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Pip’s Original Doughnuts & Chai has closed its Beaverton location less than two years after the business expanded from its popular shop in Northeast Portland.
Pip’s owners Nate and Jamie Snell said that “radically deteriorating” economic conditions and an “aggressive” rent increase by their Beaverton landlords caused the location to close.
“Unfortunately, after months of trying to come to an understanding with our landlord and property management company, we were ultimately unable to reach an accommodation and we were forced to shut the doors,” the Snells wrote on the company’s social media account Monday. “Sometimes you have to cut off the arm to save the body, and that's really what it felt like here.”
The failed expansion leaves the company with a “massive amount of debt,” the husband-and-wife duo said. The Several Pip’s employees were also laid off due to the closure and will receive severance pay, the social media post states.
“We hope that you will continue to come visit us at our Portland location,” the Snells said. “It is your joy that motivates us to keep going. We are grateful that we gave it a try and even though we are left with a massive amount of debt and a great degree of sadness, we are still glad we made the effort.”
The Pip’s Original Doughnuts & Chai location at 4759 Fremont St. in Northeast Portland remains open.
