The other day I was telling my homie Sam (@playgroundallaround) about the exciting news I’m about to tell y’all and he gave me a huge hug and said, “I love new chapters, I’m so excited for you guys!” That has stuck with me since I told him last Thursday at Urban Golf. It’s been so bittersweet knowing that the next chapter is going to be amazing but leaving behind the memories and nostalgia of the previous chapter. Progression is part of life and inevitable if you’re doing things right and growing.
It’s been 4 years since Drew and myself took the plunge and rented an art studio space in the Central Eastside District of Portland, OR. The Muni Kids Brand had already started but in January 2019 we took that plunge and opened the Portland Golf Collective with another partner and started back then what would be the next chapter of our brand. After a few months, a flooded inventory room forced our shop partner to drop out and leaving us no choice but to carry on on our own. That’s when the Neighborhood Golf Shop (@neighborhoodgolfshop) was born. Someday maybe we’ll really tell the story of that whole process but just know that when we found the space that would become the shop, we packed our shit within a few days and made our way to Portland. We spent those first few months sleeping in the shop just to be able to renovate and get our footing under ourselves before finally setting up home roots in the city. It wasn’t easy nor was it something just anyone would want to do. It was uncomfortable but worth every second now knowing all the great moments and memories that would be created there.
In that first year we went from shooting tip videos in the hood to launching our first ever Urban Golf Meetup with encouragement from our homie Matt (@golfinyourstate) while he was visiting Portland. Our Urban Golf Meetups blew up from there becoming a staple in our neighborhood and blessing us with the opportunity to share golf love with golfers of all walks of life and get tons of non-golfers (It sounds funny to say that out loud) to fall in love with the game. The memories and friendships created from these events have forever changed so many of our lives for the better.
We survived Covid and months of protests at the Neighborhood Golf Shop but we’d be lying to you if we said it didn’t change the landscape of operating the type of space we have. Online boomed as golf took off during the pandemic but sadly our beautiful city of Portland, did not flourish. Anyone who has been down there knows what I’m talking about. Our building has been locked down ever since making walk in traffic a lot harder to curate than it was before. At the end of the day it’s no longer the experience we are looking to give our customers and constantly trying to adjust it to work is eating up a lot of our creative time to work on the actual brand itself.
About a month ago we decided that it was time to shift and spend more time creating great products and content by taking back the mic and telling our genuine story founded by a love for the game and ACTUALLY GROWING THE GAME. That’s what the mission has always been and it’s time for us to double down on that.
This is part of the story where it gets exciting. As Sam said before it’s the start of a new chapter. For me personally, I’m calling it Chapter 3. We’ve been working tirelessly the past couple weeks getting this chapter started and it’s finally time to fill y’all in!
The ultimate collaboration amongst brands and/or people is one that continually elevates each others ability to present the best product or experience.
We’re excited to announce that we are opening shop with our family at Laundry (@laundrypdx) up on Alberta Street (New address above)! We’ve been cooking up ideas together and building a strong friendship since before we even moved to Portland. Originally Laundry was in the neighborhood right along the 6th hole at Tour Fairways (@tour.fairways). When they moved shop down to Chinatown in 2019, they ran appointment shopping through the Neighborhood Golf Shop while in between locations. Earlier this year they moved once again into the popular and growing Alberta neighborhood. We’ve talked over the years about sharing a space together in Portland or expanding into other cities and the timing all came together perfectly. The collaboration you’ll witness is beyond products. You’re going to see two businesses build together, helping each other by filling in the gaps. I don’t want to tell you too much right yet about what the blueprint of that is… We want you to experience it live.
We can’t wait for y’all to check out the new spot! Nothing has changed from our end as far as retail. You can expect to find all that is current from our brand (Headcovers, clothing, & accessories) as well as golf vintage clothing, shoes, clubs, collectibles, and art. The best part of this new chapter is you will also get to experience the best vintage sports store in city of Portland (Vintage Jerseys, clothing, and collectibles)! Nobody does it better than Laundry, I can promise you that! Every time I walk into the new spot I’m amazed by the crazy amount of dope vintage that is constantly rolling through their inventory. If you aren’t located in Portland make sure to check out their web store at laundrypdx.com.
We’ll still be hosting the Urban Golf Meetups every Thursday in the same spot at the one and only Tour Fairways and both your Neighborhood Golf Pro’s, Drew (@drew.muni) and E (@neighborhoodgolfacademy), will still be teaching out of the Neighborhood Golf Shop for the time being!
We’re excited to start this next chapter with you and even more excited that you can walk in the door right from the sidewalk! Haha sorry I’m actually excited about that. The new hours and location are posted in our bio.
Yours Truly & Bogey Free,
- @munimax
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