An unexpected location in Portland, Ore., has evolved into a gleaming retail destination. Two old nightclubs in the heart of downtown Portland have been gutted and transformed into Union Way, creating an unlikely shopping hub and a new shortcut between two of the city's most famous landmarks, the Ace Hotel and Powell's City of Books. Designers from the local Lever Architecture firm kept the original 1920s frames from both structures and polished them up with a Pacific Northwest palette - dove gray concrete floors and sustainably farmed poplar wood. Inside Union Way are nine trendy food and retail outlets, including: Danner, an Oregon heritage brand with boots that perfectly fuse form and function; the purveyors of prep Steven Alan; Quin candy shop, which has been described by its proprietors as ""Yo! MTV Raps" meets a Paris metro station"; and Boxer Ramen, presided over by chef Micah Camden, the man who also helms Little Big Burger, arguably the best meat puck in town. "It's almost meta, but Union Way both comments on and embodies all of Portland's lifestyle and aesthetic aspirations," says Carrie Brownstein, co-star of the hit IFC series "Portlandia" and the city's de facto mayor. "It says, "This is Portland," but at the same time it asks the very same thing: "This is Portland?""