'Cautiously optimistic': Portland businesses prep for potential damage on election night

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Portland has a history of protests following elections, causing damage to several storefronts in 2016 and 2020. Now, one week away from Election Day, business owners are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best in 2024.

But it's a mixed bag. Some told KOIN 6 News they plan on boarding up their windows and adding extra security while others said they are carrying on like business as usual.

In 2016, hundreds of activists took to the streets of Portland in the hours after Donald Trump was declared the presidential winner. The protests lasted for a week, and even resulted in Interstate 5 being shut down.

Since then, a number of protests and riots and marches have broken out in the Rose City including the massive 2020 demonstrations in Portland as the nation reacted to the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

Many retail store owners said they plan to pull expensive merchandise off their shelves and even hire security to be in their stores overnight on Nov. 5 — adding that they were not worried about the chances of protests this year until news broke about two ballot box fires in Portland and Vancouver.

Hunny Beez Owner Andrew Wegman said they may not have had a downtown Portland location in 2020, but other business owners have warned them.

"We had already installed, a few months back, security glass over our regular windows. That's extra thick. Harder to break. We're hoping that that is repellent,” Wegman said.

But Angel Medina, a co-owner of República & Co. Hospitality said they have not made plans to beef up security.

“I'm optimistic, cautiously optimistic,” Medina said.

However, Medina said he is concerned about losing business during this time, adding that "we need all that business so we can't go into four days of just hiding out until we get election results."